The other Lance girl
by Millie 1985
Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She suddenly went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child, Felicity had always just been the other Lance girl until tragedy forces her to become something more. AU Arrow
1. Prologue

**The other Lance girl**

AN: Hey there everyone, this is my first Arrow Fanfiction, I'm sad to say I was a bit late to the party and only just found out how awesome this show is. My love of Arrow is all down to the insistence of my younger brother that if I gave it a chance I would become just as addicted as he was, it turns out he was right so I am going to dedicate this story to my awesome little Brother and best friend Lander.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summery: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Prologue**

It's funny how much your life can change in just one day. Felicity Lance knew this well she had faced more life changing days than most.

The day her Father left, the day she had met Quentin Lance and his family for the first time, the day her Mother had died, the day she had become a Lance herself and finally the day she lost both her little Sister Sara and her best friend Oliver in a ship wreck.

Anyone would think that Felicity had been through enough but it seemed fate didn't agree. Felicity's life changing days were far from over, her life was going to change time and time again over the next few years and it all started with a late night phone call.

 _Thanks for reading Millie xXx_


	2. Coming home part 1

**The other Lance girl**

AN: Hey there everyone, I actually have the whole of the first episode of my version of Arrow season one finished. I was going to post it as one long chapter but there was just too much of it so now you have the tiny little prologue (sorry about that) three long chapters and an episode tag. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it and I hope to have posted all of the first episode by the end of the weekend, wish me luck on that on (he he).

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She suddenly went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance family but all of Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Chapter 1**

 **Coming home part 1**

Waking up was never much fun for Felicity Lance but it was especially unpleasant at 2.00 in the morning. At first the tech genius thought she had somehow messed up the setting on her alarm, seen as the offending noise was coming from her phone. She seriously considered burrowing her head in her pillow and ignoring the insistent ringing until it stopped.

All thoughts of hiding fled Felicity's mind as soon as she recognised the irritating noise was not her alarm but Thea Queen's personal ring tone. There were very few people that could make Felicity jump out of her nice warm bed and Thea was one of them.

The teenager had gone through so much in the last five years and Felicity had been there for her the whole time. It hadn't always been easy, sometimes it still wasn't and a call this late (early?) was never a good thing.

"Yes, hello" Felicity stammered as she managed to answer the phone and get it to her ear.

At first there was no sound from the other end and Felicity wondered if she had been butt dialled but then gentle sobbing began to drift down the line and as awful as it sounded Felicity was glad to hear Thea crying. Crying normally meant one of two things 1) Thea was very drunk and needed help getting home or 2) Thea had been dreaming about either her Father or Oliver and needed someone to talk to. Neither of those situations usually involved the police and that was always a bonus.

"Thea, sweetie are you OK?" Felicity asked softly, hoping she could calm the girl down enough to get a reply.

"It's Ollie, he's coming home" Thea managed to get out whilst still sobbing.

"Oh Thea were you dreaming again?" Felicity sighed; she couldn't help but feel for her friend. Sometimes Thea's dreams were so vivid that she needed someone to remind her what was real and what wasn't.

"No Flick, it wasn't a dream" Thea insisted "He really is coming home, they found him, he's alive". The girl's tears subsided as she went on and Felicity was getting really worried, Thea clearly believe what she was saying and Felicity had no idea how to help he friend face reality without breaking her heart.

"Thea-" she began softly but she was interrupted by a loud alert noise that came from the phone she was currently holding very close to her ear.

"Frack" she hissed as she instinctively pulled the device away from her ear even though she knew Thea was still on the other end of the call. Glancing at the screen Felicity was shocked to see that she had an email from none other than Moira Queen herself. She didn't open the email but she didn't need to the subject title that flashed across the screen told her all she needed to know. There in bold letters it clearly read **OLIVER IS ALIVE.**

Felicity felt like her whole world had been turned on it head and she needed a moment to centre herself. It took Thea yelling her name down the line for Felicity to recall that her young friend was still there.

"Thea, he really is alive" she gasped down the phone.

"I told you so" Thea shot back and Felicity could practically hear the knowing grin she was wearing in her voice.

"Will you come over Flick?" Thea asked suddenly sounding very young and slightly lost "I hate to ask" she added quickly "but Mom is at the hospital and Walter is all tied up with how Ollie returning is going to affect the company, I kind of don't want to be alone right now" she sighed.

"Of course I'll come Thea" Felicity assured the young woman "I just need some time to process, but I promise I'll be there soon, OK".

"OK" the teen agreed softly before quickly perking up "hey Flick if Ollie made it maybe Sara's still out there too" she suggested hopefully.

"Maybe" Felicity agreed sadly, she didn't have the heart to point out to Thea just how slim her sister's chances were. "I'll see you soon sweetie" she whispered.

"OK, bye Flick" Thea signed off in a much brighter tone that the she had stared the call with.

Once Thea had hung up Felicity allowed herself to fall back onto her bed and just have a moment to gather her thoughts before making her next move. With her aging teddy bear clutched to her chest Felicity opened Moira's email to see what the Queen family matriarch had to say on the situation.

 **Subject: OLIVER IS ALIVE.**

 **Message:** _Yes Felicity dear it's true. My son has been found alive. He was stranded on a deserted island in the South China Sea. I am sad to say there was no mention of anyone else being found with him but I promise I will be making enquires in the area to see if anyone could have survived on any of the many islands surrounding Oliver's._

 _If Oliver is alive we must hold out hope that perhaps Robert, Sara and everyone else on board the gambit could be too, at least until we are told otherwise._

 _I am sorry to ask this of you but we have somehow managed to keep Oliver's survival and return out of the public forum so far and I need you to help us keep it that way. We want to give Oliver a chance to adjust to his surroundings before the press descend on him so I must ask you not to share this information with your family yet._

 _I am sorry to put this burden on you Felicity I truly am but we both know my Daughter will be contacting you at any moment and I just wanted to prepare you for what is about to happen._

 _Your cooperation in this matter, no matter how reluctantly given is greatly appreciated. I would also like to a sure you I will be speaking with your Father myself very soon. I would never expect you to keep something like this from him for a prolonged period of time._

 _I would also like to take this opportunity to offer you the next two days as personal leave from Queen Consolidated, I think we both know you will be facing a lot of distractions over the next few days and I would like to do what I can to make the process easier for you._

 _Many thanks._

 _Moira._

Felicity knew she should be grateful to Moira for her thoughtfulness but over the years she had learnt than Moira Queen's kindness usually came at a price and in this case it seemed to Felicity she would be paying twice. Once by keeping her Dad and Laurel in the dark about Oliver and once by spending her two personal days by being there for both Thea and Oliver if they needed her, which they probably would.

Over the past few years Moira had been more and more hands off with her Daughter, pushing Felicity into the parental role so much so that she had become the person Thea would call if she were drunk and or under arrest.

As much as Felicity loved Thea she couldn't help but resent Moira for putting her in that position. Not to mention she had just asked Felicity all but lie to her Father and Sister, that was something she both didn't want to do and she was very bad at.

Her first instinct was to contact them right away despite Moira request. The only thing stopping her was the knowledge that they would both jump at the same slight hope that Thea had, they would want to believe that Sara was still out there somewhere and as much as she wanted to believe the same Felicity wasn't sure she could.

Felicity was an optimist but she was also a realist she dealt in facts and right now she didn't have any to give to those she loved, at least none that pertained to Sara. So until she did she would do as Moira had asked not for the sake of the Queen family but for the Lance's, they had been through too much heart ache in the last five years she was not going to add a fresh set of dashed hopes on top of everything else.

Sighing Felicity climbed out of her bed and got ready for her journey from the Glades to the Queen Mansion. Her Dad hated that the only apartment she could afford was in the Glades and he was always trying to talk her into staying at the house. Tonight she was very glad she had said no because sneaking out with Quentin Lance around was impossible.

Felicity dressed simply and comfortably, she didn't think anyone would care what she looked like and if they did she had plenty of nicer clothes stashed at the mansion from all the times she had stayed over with Thea. She put on some leggings and a big baggy jumper, she couldn't remember where she had gotten it but was by far her favourite item of clothing, and she called it her comfort jumper because she tended to wear it when she was upset or worried. She didn't bother with any make up or anything else frivols like that, she just put on her glasses because she needed them to see and her Birth Fathers pendant because in her waking hours she was never without it.

The pendant was a tiny yet intricately carved dagger with a red gem set in the hilt that hung on a long leather cord. Felicity didn't have many memories of her Father but the day he gave her the pendant was one of the clearest, sadly it was also the last as that was the night he had left her and her Mother behind forever.

In times of stress Felicity would find herself stroking the tiny dagger as if she was seeking comfort from the man that gave it to her. Sometimes she wanted to hate him, she wanted to take the pendant he so treasured and throw it away, freeing herself from him but she knew she never could.

For a long time she had refused to take the necklace off at all but her Mother had finally convinced her to remove it when she slept for fear she would cut herself during the night, the blade had never been very sharp but she had understood her Mom's concerns. Those concerns had no basis anymore because Quentin Lance was not going to let one of his little girls run around with a possible weapon around her neck. It had taken a lot of discussion but she had eventually agreed to let him take the pendant away and have the blade ground down so it was completely blunt.

He had promised Felicity she would only be without her link to her Father for two hours then he would never take it from her again, she had trusted him and he had gotten her necklace back to her in less than an hour.

When he had given it back to her Quentin had given her a speech about how he didn't want to replace her Dad he just wanted to be there for her when he wasn't, which by that point had been quite a long time.

That was the moment that she had stopped seeing the detective as Quentin Lance her Moms childhood friend, he had become her Dad. She began to think of the man that had put the pendant around her neck as her birth Father, she was always going to love him she didn't know how not to but he had no claim to the title Dad any more he had given it up when he walked out the door that night all those years ago.

***Flashback***

Five year old Felicity Smoke was a light sleeper she always had been and living in Vegas that meant she was always waking up at all hours of night. Normally when she was disturbed during the night she would stay in bed trying to ignore whatever noise had woken her and hoping it stopped soon but for some reason that night was different. That night she felt the need to get up and go down stairs.

She found her Father in the living room, he was dressed strangely and he had a big bad with him. He was slowly looking around the room and he looked so sad that Felicity had to go to him.

"Daddy are you alright?" she asked walking into the room. Her Father didn't answer he just held his arms out to her and Felicity rusher into them without a thought.

"What's wrong Daddy?" Felicity had never seen her Dad cry but in that moment he looked like he just might

"Felicity, honey I have to go away for a while, I have some busyness to finish" he told her as he stroked her dark hair.

"Will you be back soon?" Felicity asked him softly.

"I want to come back very soon" he told her "But I don't know how long I will be gone I wish I did" he sighed, he had learnt not to lie to his little girl she always saw right through him.

"I'll miss you Daddy" Felicity whispered hugging even tighter.

"I'll miss you too An-Nur" he said using his special name for her the one he only used when it was just the two of them. "Here" he said as he put Felicity down and took off the necklace she had never seen him without "you take this sweetheart, My Father gave this to me a very very long time ago and now I'm giving it to you. As long as you have this I'm with you" he told her solemnly as he slipped it over her head.

Felicity suddenly wanted to cry, she may have only been five but she knew a forever goodbye when she heard one.

"Please don't go Daddy" she pleaded trying to take the necklace off and give it back to him as if that would make him stay.

"Hey, hey now" he said softly catching her chin and making her look at him "I love you and your Mother very much Felicity and if I had a choice I would never be separated from either of you" he swore pulling her in for another hug "remember that" he ordered as he release her.

"OK" Felicity said firmly as she wiped her tears away trying to be brave like her Dad always was.

"OK, let's get you back to bed" he smiled the same way he always did and if Felicity wasn't wearing his necklace she could have fooled herself that this was just like any other normal night.

"Will you tell me a story?" she asked as she climbed into her bed. She knew as soon as she was asleep her Daddy was going to leave but she wanted to hold onto him for as long as she could.

Her Dad just smiled, tucked her in and started with one of her favourites "Once upon a time there was a Princess, her name was Felicity but no one called her that".

"What did they call her?" Felicity asked just like she always did at that point in the story.

"Felicity had such a good heart and she bought so much light into the lives of her people that they called her An-Nur which means the light". The man paused in his story telling to directly address his daughter "you have so much light Felicity, more than anyone else I have ever known, don't ever lose it, don't let this world steal your light" he begged her.

"I won't Daddy" Felicity sighed she didn't want to admit it but she was getting sleepy. Her Father smiled softly as he continued to regale her with stories of Princess Felicity.

Finally just as he was reaching the end of the last tale Felicity felt her eyes begin to droop, the sun was starting to rise, her Father had stayed with her the whole night and that made her smile but she knew when the last story was done he was going to leave and she was too tired to stop him.

"Princess Felicity learnt a very important lesson that day, she learnt that nothing can stand without a strong foundation, not a building not a relationship, not a man, nothing" her Dad said wrapping up the very last story.

"Remember that honey" he whispered to the almost asleep little girl who lay at his side. "Strong foundation, Strong structure" he said reiterating a lesson he had taught her over and over again. Felicity was too sleepy to do anything but nod her head.

The last thing she was aware of before she gave in and fell asleep was her Father pressing a kiss to her temple and wishing her goodbye. "Live well little one, I love you and I'll be watching over you, always".

 ******* End Flashback***

The drive from the Glades to the Queen Mansion didn't take anywhere near as long as it normally would; Felicity probably had the ungodly hour to thank for that. Once she arrived the blond use her key to open one of the huge double doors.

She still wasn't sure how she has qualified for a key to the biggest house in starling but she was glad she did, if only so she didn't have to wake any of the live in staff to let her in. She tried to close the heavy wooden door quietly but given its size it was almost impossible. It turned out she needn't have worried about how much noise she made the whole house seemed to be up anyway.

"Miss Felicity, you heard the good news" Raisa the Queen's house keeper greeted her with a warm hug.

"Thea called me" Felicity said returning her warm embrace.

"Of course she did" Raisa smiled as she release the younger woman "You are her Mama after all".

When Raisa had first used the endearment she had been trying to make Felicity see that she had become more of a mother to Thea than her own mother and it had made her cringe to hear it, now she had excepted her roll in Thea's life it made her smile.

"And you are Oliver's" Felicity beamed at Raisa, it hadn't taken the young woman long to realise the relationship Raisa shared with Oliver was the same as the one she and Thea had. "You must be overjoyed to know he's coming home Raisa".

"I am" Raisa agreed "But this must bring you as much pain as it does joy Miss Felicity".

"No it doesn't" Felicity did her best to smile at Raisa "yesterday I believed both my Sister and my best friend were dead. Now I know at least one of them is alive, how could that make me anything but happy?" she asked.

"Because you are human" Raisa stated "missing your Sister and wishing that it was her that was found is natural, it does not mean you wish Oliver any harm and no one would blame you if you had not come here tonight".

"I know that Raisa, I really do" Felicity insisted "but is it wrong that I don't resent him in any way at all, not for taking her on the Gambit, not for surviving when she probably didn't and not for coming home when I don't think she ever will. I should be mad at him or hurt something like that but I'm not. I'm just kind of shocked and very grateful that he is alive and I know that my Dad and my Sister -the living one at least- are not going to be OK with that but it's just the way I feel".

Felicity always had a tendency to babble when she was happy or shocked or nervous or anytime really she just really whished that now was not one of the times her mouth chose to run away with her. She didn't know how Raisa would take her rambling and she really didn't want to detract from the woman's happiness in anyway.

Thankfully Raisa didn't take offence at anything Felicity had said instead she let out a heartfelt laugh. "Oh Miss Felicity you have a truly good heart" she said almost reassuringly. "Your family should be proud of you for that even if they cannot be so forgiving" she gave Felicity one more hug before pointing towards the grand staircase "now I have kept you from Miss Thea long enough".

Felicity gave the older woman a thankful smile and then did something she would never have dared to do if she knew Moira was home, she ran up the stairs that led to the second floor of Queen Mansion.

Felicity expected to be bombarded by Thea the second she tapped on the girl's bedroom door but the room beyond was surprisingly silent. Creeping in slowly she found the teen asleep on the window seat, she must have been watching out for Felicity just like she used to when she was younger.

"Thea, Thea sweetie" Felicity called softly, giving Thea a gentle shake in hopes of waking her without scaring her.

"Flick" Thea muttered as she slowly awoke "Your here" she actually sounded surprised.

"Of course I'm here" Felicity smiled at the disorientated girl. "Thea sweetie, let's get you into bed shall we" the older girl suggested as she helped her friend to get up "you have a big day ahead of you" she pointed out "and you clearly need some sleep".

"Flick, is Ollie really coming home or did I just dream that?" Thea asked sounding so much like the twelve year old Oliver had left behind that it made Felicity's heart ache for her.

"He's really coming back" Felicity told the young woman as she tucked her in the same way she would a young child. "But Thea you can't expect him to be exactly the same person he was when he left" she warned her friend. "He has spent five years alone on an island, look at how much you and I have changed in those five years and that's without the whole castaway thing" she needed Thea to understand that just because Oliver was coming back that didn't mean they automatically got a happy ending but it did mean they had a chance at one if they were prepared to work for it.

"I don't care" Thea sighed as she snuggled into her pillows "So long as he's back that's enough for me".

"Me too sweetie, me too" Felicity agreed as the other girl fell asleep again.

Felicity took up the spot by the window that Thea had just vacated. Unlike the younger woman sleep didn't come for Felicity. She spent the remainder of the night watching as the sky grew steadily lighter and wondering just what the next day would hold, not just for her but for everyone she loved. All of their lives were about to change, she didn't think any of them were ready for it but Oliver Queen was coming back and they were all going to have to deal with the emotional fall out from that, Oliver included.

 _Thanks for reading, feel free to let me know what you think._

 _Millie xXx_


	3. Coming home part 2

**The other Lance girl**

AN: Hey again guys. Well, wow I got so much lovely feedback on the last two chapters; I can't say how nice it was so thank you all so very much. So I have a confession before I go any further, I really don't like Laurel. The actress that plays her seems lovely and her character has come on in leaps and bounds as the show has gone on but season one Laurel gets right up my nose. That being said I get the impression that she would be a pretty awesome older Sister to have, so that's what I'm going to try and channel in this story, I hope I can pull it off. Thanks again for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy this as much as I do.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She suddenly went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance family but all of Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Chapter 2**

 **Coming home part 2**

The whole of the Queen Mansion was waiting with baited breath for the families long lost heir to walk through the door once again and the wait was gut wrenching. No one wanted Oliver home more than Oliver himself, for a long time he had dreamed of returning to those he loved but now the moment had arrived it was almost bittersweet. The boy that had so desperately wanted to come home, he was gone, he had been for a long time and the man that he had become had no illusions about the kind of man he was. He wasn't the person that his loved ones believed him to be and he could only hope for their sake that he could hide that from all of them.

Coming home wasn't as easy as he had once believed it would be the house felt foreign and people he had known all of his life felt more like strangers than anything else.

He knew brushing Walter off was rude just as he knew he shouldn't be more touched by Raisa's welcome than he was by his Mom's but right then he didn't care, he knew any odd behaviour on his part would be written off as him just finding his feet again.

The truth was there was only one person Oliver really wanted to see more than Raisa and she didn't keep him waiting long. The slamming of a door heralded the arrival of Thea Queen and Oliver all but bolted from the entrance hall to meet her on the stairs.

Hugging his little sister close to him and telling her just how much he missed her Oliver finally felt like he really was back, there was no one in starling that he had missed as much as her, a few came close but Thea would always be his top priority.

A movement behind his Sister caught Oliver's attention and in an instant he was on high alert ready to protect her from any incoming attack.

"Hey are you OK?" Thea asked having noticed him tense up.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he reassured her with a kiss on the cheek and he was fine the movement he had seen turned out to be nothing more than a tiny blond, she was probably one of Thea's friends who had come to either offer support or gather gossip to share with anyone who would listen.

The blond came forward offering him a warm smile and Oliver's heart froze in his chest. He would know that smile anywhere; the tiny blond was none other than his onetime best friend Felicity Lance. Some small part of him was genuinely glad to see her but the larger part of him knew she might well hate him, just like she had every right to. He was the reason her little Sister was dead after all.

Thea obviously noticed his distraction but she completely misread what had caused it.

"You don't recognise her do you?" she asked, she seemed genuinely shocked for a moment before in true Thea style she found the fun in the situation. "Please don't tell him who you are" she begged her friend as she moved to her side with a teasing grin plastered across her young face.

"Thea" Felicity said in a somewhat unhappy tone, she almost sounded like a disapproving mother.

"Just for one minute" Thea pleaded with her "let him suffer for just one minute".

Thea clearly didn't think her wording through but Oliver knew she didn't mean any harm, his Mother however wasn't feeling quite so forgiving.

"Thea" she snapped at her "Oliver has suffered enough as it is" she told her daughter firmly.

"Besides" Oliver cut in smoothly "Do you really think I would forget Felicity Lance that easily?" he asked.

"Welcome home Oliver" Felicity smiled and came down the stairs to hug him just like Thea had. Oliver was shocked that the welcome seemed as genuine and joy filled as any of the others he had received.

Thea knew him well enough to read the surprise on his face as he hugged Felicity back; Oliver ignored the cheeky grin his Sister was sporting in favour of focusing on his now blond friend.

"When did you go blond" he asked as he pulled away from her.

"a couple of years ago" she said with her trademark self conscious smile "Sara was always saying it would suit me and that way she wouldn't be the only blond Lance, so after she was gone I decided that even if I wasn't a biologically a Lance I would follow her suggestion, kind of in honour of her" Felicity had finished her ramble before she had even realized what she was saying. "And you did not need to hear all that" she tacked on quickly "Sorry, I'm making this awkward" she apologised.

Oliver couldn't believe it, the guy that pretty much killed her Sister had just come back from the dead and she was apologising to him for making things awkward. A lot of things in starling had changed in the last five years but it didn't look like Felicity was one of them.

"I should go" she stated obviously feeling out of place.

"No Flick, please stay" Thea said aiming her best puppy dog eyes at the other girl.

"No Thea I can't" Felicity was trying valiantly to resist his Sisters dirty trick but Oliver didn't think it would take long for her to cave. "Oliver just got home, this should be family time" Felicity reasoned and it looked like Thea was listening to her.

"Tommy's coming to dinner" the words flew out of Oliver's mouth before he could stop them. He knew the night would be easier for both him and Felicity if he just let her go home but couldn't let her go just yet.

"See, totally not family time" Thea grinned at Felicity before calling out to their mother who was still hovering at the bottom of the stairs "Flick can stay for dinner too, right Mom".

"Of course dear" Moira smiled up at them "Felicity is always welcome here, I'll just inform Raisa about the change in dinner numbers" she said finally leaving her post to go and see the house keeper.

"If I'm staying I should go and call my Dad" Felicity sighed in defeat "don't worry I'll be vague" she reassured the Queen siblings before hurrying off and leaving them stood on the stairs.

"You two seem closer than ever" Oliver commented to Thea. She and Felicity had always gotten along well enough. Felicity had been Thea's tutor, babysitter and friend all rolled into one but Oliver hadn't ever expected them to get as close as they were now.

"Felicity's the best" Thea simply stated with a warm smile "we got lucky when we met her" Oliver had never heard Thea speak so highly of anyone before, mind you Thea had been twelve the last time he had spoken to her.

"Just a word of warning Ollie don't expect Laurel's greeting to be anything like Flick's', she hates your guts and so does their Dad" Thea told him a matter of factly and Oliver suddenly found himself whole heartedly agreeing with Thea's earlier statement, they were lucky in deed to have Felicity.

Felicity Lance knew she was good at a lot of things, she even excelled at some but lying was not one of them particularly when it came to her Father or her big Sister. Thankfully years of having a wild child for a younger sibling had trained her well in the art of not telling the whole truth while not technically lying.

She had lost count of just how often she had used the technique to cover for Sara in the past. She just hoped she was as good as she used to be because her phone was ringing and the caller ID said it was her Dad.

"Hey Dad" she greeted "I was just about to call you".

"Oh you were, were you? So what's up?" he asked.

People found it hard to believe but Quentin Lance was the kind of person that randomly phoned those he loved to check in with them, his daughters weren't. Usually if they were calling him there was a reason.

"Nothing's up" Felicity chuckled down the phone, her Dad worried too much. "I just wanted to let you know I'm having dinner with some friends tonight, so if you have any problems getting me on the phone don't freak out or send a patrol car out looking for me, OK".

"OK sweetheart" he agreed "I was calling to see if you were still coming to dinner with me and Laurel tonight but I guess I got my answer" Quentin said explaining his own call.

"Oh My Gosh, that was tonight" Felicity felt horrible, she never forgot family dinners. Laurel sometimes had to cancel due to work but not Felicity, never Felicity.

"Yeah, that was tonight" the detective sounded slightly exasperated but Felicity could hear a smile in his voice.

"You know I would usually drop everything and I mean everything for you and Laurel Dad" she told him truthfully.

"But" Quentin prompted.

"But these guys need me more right now" she admitted carefully withholding the fact that he and Laurel were probably going to be needing her soon. "I'm sorry, Dad" she apologised.

"You have nothing to be sorry for kid. You're a good friend to have and a better daughter" her Father reassured her.

Quentin had always been very open and affectionate with all of his daughters but he tended to go out of his way to ensure Felicity knew he loved her just as much as he did his biological daughters. Laurel and Sara had never had a problem with their Dad taking Felicity in and loving her like his own because they did too. Dinah Lance had been a different story all together, she had never been overly happy about Felicity's inclusion in their Family.

Felicity was always going to feel like she had something to do with Dinah's decision to leave and she couldn't help but worry that one day her Dad and Laurel would finally see it too. Long ago Felicity had learnt that people came and went easily even those that loved you dearly couldn't always stay. Sometimes she was scared that she would lose Quentin and Laurel too, particularly when she was doing things like keeping huge, hurtful secrets from them.

"You know I love you right Dad?" she had to check sometimes just for her own peace of mind.

"Of course I do kiddo" he replied gently and Felicity felt herself beginning to choke up, partly due to the affection for him and partly for fear of losing the only family she had left when the news of Oliver return broke.

"And you know I would never want to hurt you or Laurel?" she added quickly.

"I know that Felicity and your Sister does too" her Dad said starting to sound worried "are you sure you're OK Kid?" he asked her softly.

"I'm fine" Felicity lied as she wiped at the tears she refused to let fall "I just feel bad about dinner" she lied again but Quentin didn't catch it he was too busy laughing.

"I think we can handle some cancelled dinner plans Felicity" Quentin guffaw.

"Good, good I'm glad to hear that" Felicity replied automatically "well I have to go, but I'll see you this weekend right?" she asked.

"So long as you remember" her Dad teased.

"I will" she promised "see you then" she confirmed.

"See you then, love you" Quentin signed off.

"Love you too Dad" Felicity retuned before hanging up.

"Why didn't you tell him about me?" came a voice from the doorway.

Felicity jumped from the bed she had been sitting on in fright "Oliver, do you ever knock" she snapped at her newly returned friend.

"This is my house and it's not like you were in the lady's room" he shot right back, sounding almost exactly like she remembered him.

"Technically this is my room" she told him "I mean I know it's in your house but your Mom allotted it to me years ago and no one else ever uses it, so it's mine now and I would like you to knock in future" she summed up. She was aware that she had just rambled at Oliver for the second time in as many meetings but that last one was pretty to the point so she was going to let herself slide on that one.

"Nice side step" Oliver complemented her on avoiding his question "did my Mother teach you that?" he asked.

Felicity couldn't help but chuckling somewhat nervously "not really but if you hang around here long enough you bound to pick up a thing or two on press handling" she admitted.

"I'm not the press Felicity" Oliver pointed out "and you still haven't answered my question".

"I didn't tell my Dad the whole truth because your Mom asked me not to, at least not yet" she explained.

"And you agreed to that?" Oliver couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice.

"I didn't want to at first" Felicity admitted as she slumped back down on to her bed "but then I realized that perhaps it would be kinder of me to find out everything I could before I told them anything, I couldn't bear to give them hope only to rip it away again".

The look of guilt that washed over Oliver's face at her words told Felicity all she needed to know, Sara really was dead. She did her best not to let her heartbreak to show on her face but Oliver had always been able to read her better that anyone else.

Heaving a sigh he sat down beside her and took her hand in his "Felicity-"he began but she couldn't let him finish.

"No Oliver you don't have to say it, in fact I think I will handle this whole thing better if you don't" she told him firmly.

"Felicity-"he tried again.

"Oliver" she cut him off "for all your thoughtlessness over the years, you have never been intentionally cruel. So I know that if there was any chance at all that Sara survived that wreck you would have told me by now" she needed him to understand that she wasn't fooling herself, she may have gone blond but she wasn't that blond.

She understood that Sara was dead, accepted it even but if she heard him say those words she would lose it and she couldn't do that, not yet. Her family was going to need her to be the strong one just like she had been for the last five years. After Sara and Oliver had disappeared Felicity had used her grief to mould herself into what she needed to be she had become the rock that so many people lent on and that was how she had coped. If she broke now she didn't know if she would be able to go on.

"Felicity" Oliver whispered and this time she let him continue "I am so so sorry" he apologised.

"I know you are" she told him gently "so am I".

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea but in that moment Felicity couldn't stop herself from hugging him. Oliver retuned her hug without hesitation, holding her close to him just like he had so many times before. Felicity managed to hold back most of her tears but a few traitors ones slipped out and dampening the shoulder of Oliver's shirt.

Felicity didn't know how long they sat there wrapped up in each other's, arms giving and taking mostly silent comfort. Just as they were untangling themselves there was a tap on the door followed by the voice of Thea floating through the wooded barrier.

"Flick are you OK in there?" she called.

"See how that works" Felicity whispered to Oliver giving him a slight smile before answering her friend. "I'm fine Thea" she called back "come on in" she inveighed.

"Oh hey Ollie" Thea greeted her brother with fake surprise; she had strongly suspected he would be with Felicity. While Oliver may have been dating the oldest Lance girl and as it turned out cheating on her with the youngest, it was the middle child of the Lance family that he had always been closest to. She and Tommy Merlyn had been sharing the title of best friend to Oliver Queen for as long as Thea could remember.

"I was just coming to tell Flick dinner's ready and hopefully rope her into helping me find you but would you look at that, search over" she grinned at the two of them before hurrying away.

"Shall we?" Oliver asked offering Felicity his hand to help her up.

"We shall" she shot back with a slightly watery smile "I'm sorry Oliver" she added quickly "after everything you have been through the last thing you need is me crying all over you, particularly over something that's not your fault" she said explain her apology.

"It was my fault Felicity" Oliver told her flatly "Sara's dea-" he began before remembering Felicity's plea not to say those words. Heaving a huge sigh he tried again "Sara got on that boat because of me, that makes it my fault and I am never going to be able to make that up to you or the rest of your family but I have got to try" he finished sadly.

"We both know that no one could make Sara do anything she didn't want to, not even you Oliver Queen" Felicity told him firmly "and if you insist on playing the blame game then you better remember that I deserve some of it too, you were only part of the reason she was on the gambit and you know it" she hissed at him releasing his hand.

"We are never going to be the same are we?" Oliver asked her sadly.

Oliver had been so relieved that Felicity didn't hate him that he had let himself hope that everything between them could go back to the way it was before. He could see now just how foolish he had been, Felicity hid her pain well from everyone else but he had always seen all of her, event the bits she didn't want him to. She was hurting deeply and he was the reason for it, nothing could ever be the same again.

"I want us to be" Felicity answered truthfully, proving just how strong she really was "but it's going to take some time" she admitted.

"what do we do until then" he asked softly, he desperately hoped she wasn't going to ask him give her space because having just got her and the other people he loved back he wasn't sure he could take losing any of them.

"We work at it, we give it time and we hope for the best" she told him with the brightest smile she could muster.

"Sounds like a plan" he said taking her hand in his once again and leading her out of the room.

Entering the lobby both Felicity and Oliver were greeted by a welcome sight, none other than Tommy Merlyn was waiting for them.

"Tommy Merlyn" Oliver greeted him with his full title and released Felicity's hand to go hug his other best friend.

"Oliver Queen" Tommy offered in return "I told you boat's suck" he reminded him and Oliver found himself nodding in agreement.

"Hello Princess" Tommy said approaching Felicity when he had let go of Oliver. Felicity had only ever let her Birth Father's nickname for her slip once but it was enough for Tommy to latch into it and claim it as his own.

"Hello Wizard" she shot back at him, it wasn't the most original of pet names for someone with the last name Merlyn but Felicity had been calling Tommy Wizard for years and she wasn't going to stop any time soon.

"Didn't I tell you our boy was coming back" Tommy gloated as he pulled Felicity into a tight hug.

"Yeah you did" Felicity agreed because it was the truth Tommy had never given up hope that Oliver would be found alive one day and it turned out he was right.

"I just wish Sara was with him" Tommy whispered regretfully.

"Me too Tommy, me too" Felicity whispered back as she finally let go of him.

Tommy's arrival turned out to be the high light of Felicity's night. Dinner at the Queen Mansion was never exactly easy, it was far too formal for her liking but that night had to be the most awkward meal she had ever had, not just there but ever.

Thankfully Tommy kept the conversation going with both Thea and Felicity chipping in now and again but everyone could feel the tension in the air and no one seemed to know how to dispel it.

When Moira finally broke the news of her and Walter's marriage to Oliver in hopes of ending his rudeness towards his step Father the room was plunged into a deathly silent's and Felicity found herself wondering if the huge house had ever been so quiet before. When her phone went off she was glad of the reprieve right up until she saw Laurel's face on the caller ID.

"Excuse me I need to take this" she said doing her bet to be both polite and ignore the disapproving looks Moira was sending her way.

"Hay Laurel, what's up" Felicity answered as soon as she was out of ear shot of the dining room.

"Why don't you tell me Felicity" Laurels tone was cooler that any she had ever used on Felicity and the girl knew she was in trouble. Before she could say anything Laurel began to berate her.

"First Dad get's a call from you saying you're not coming to dinner because some friends need you, then he gets a call from Moira Queen herself, telling him Oliver's alive, so you tell me what's up Felicity" Laurel was now screeching with anger and it was only years of listening to her lay into Sara that allowed Felicity to understand her. "Or Better yet tell me you are not with the Queen's right now, tell me you didn't know about Oliver and keep it from me, from us" she seethed.

"I wish I could Laurel" Felicity sighed into the phone "I'm sorry Laurel I wanted to tell you I really did" she swore "I was only meant to be here for a few hours, with Thea then I was coming striate to you" she insisted.

"But you didn't because they needed you more" Felicity could hear the bitterness in Laurel's voice and it made her heart hurt.

"I didn't know Moira was calling you tonight do you think I would still be here if I did?" Felicity was trying to get Laurel to understand the difficult position she had been put in.

"Why were you even there in the first place?" Laurel spat angrily.

"I told you I was here for Thea" Felicity repeated, she was beginning to lose her own cool. She was gripping her dagger pendant so tight that she was glad it was blunt, if it hadn't been she was sure her hand would be bleeding by now.

"Why would you not tell me he was back" Laurel sobbed as anger gave way to misery.

"Because I needed to see him first, I had to talk to him, I had to know if there was any chance he wasn't the only survivor" Felicity whispered all of her fight fleeing as quickly as it had come.

"Was he the only one?" Laurel asked so softly the Felicity had to strain to hear her.

"Yes" If it was painful for Felicity to say it, it was even more painful for Laurel to hear it, she started to cry again. "I'm so sorry Laurel" Felicity apologised profusely.

"I know you are" Laurel admitted "I just need time" and with that she hung up.

Felicity swiped at her (hopefully) nonexistent tears and marched back into the dining room. Oliver was on his feet, it looked like he was about to ask permission to leave but Felicity didn't have it in her to be that polite.

"I need to go now" she announced.

Moira looked completely shocked "You can't mean that, not at this hour Felicity" while it was true that it was already dark out Felicity didn't scare easily, she couldn't afford to living in the Glades.

"I have my car, I'll be fine" she assured the older woman.

"Flick please don't go" Thea put in, trying her puppy dog eyes again.

"I have to Thea, Laurel and my Dad need me" she said keeping her explanation short and clean.

"But it's not safe" Thea pleaded.

"Of course it's safe" Oliver cut in trying to be supportive of his friend seen as he was the reason she was in this situation in the first place.

"Actually it's not" Tommy disagreed "Princess you know what the Glades can be like at this time of night" he tried to reason with the stubborn blond.

"Why would Felicity be in the Glades?" Oliver asked.

"Because that's where my apartment is" she admitted in a somewhat sheepish tone.

"You're staying here tonight" Oliver decreed doing a complete 180 on his support of Felicity and her plan to leave.

"No I'm really not" Felicity tried to insist but at that moment her phone rang once more, it was her Dad this time.

The call from Quentin was much shorter and far more concise than the one she had had with Laurel. He wasn't happily but he completely understood the situation she had found herself in. He wasn't mad at her for not telling them but he would be very mad indeed if she left the safety of Queen Mansion this late at night and just so they were clear he loved her very much and nothing was going to change that not even her friendship with the Queen's. He signed off with a firm order to stay safe and left Felicity wondering how she had been lucky enough to end up with such a wonderful Father.

"According to my Dad I'm staying the night" she sighed as she put her phone away and everyone else in the room released the breath they had unwittingly been holding.

 _Thanks for reading, all feedback welcome._

 _Thanks again Millie xXx_


	4. Coming home part 3

**The other Lance girl**

AN: hey there guys, thank you once again for the awesome feedback. OK so I have another confesstion to make this was meant to be the last full chapter for episode one but it just go too long, when I hit twenty two pages on word I thought it was best to call it a day. The last two parts (Chapter four and the episode tag) will be going up next weekend. Sorry about the wait but I hope you enjoy this chapter, it is my favourite so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Coming home part 3**

The next morning Felicity was up bright and early with every intention of making her way home but as with most things lately fate didn't agree with her plans. She kept getting way laid by different things.

The first was Moira stopping her to check if she had witnessed Oliver's episode (Moira word not hers) the night before. Of course Felicity had witnessed it, she had woken up to Oliver thrashing and bagging around in the room right next to hers. She had gone to check in on him just in time to see him almost choke the life out of Moira.

Felicity played down what she had seen to Moira but she still got a firm reminder that her discretion was expected in everything that involved Oliver. She had just barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at Moira but she promised not to say anything to anyone.

The next thing to hold her up was Raisa insisting that she could not leave without eating anything. She made Felicity take a seat in the kitchen while she prepared one of her famous breakfast dishes.

Then Thea stopped into the kitchen to hug Felicity goodbye and remind her that just because Oliver was back didn't mean she was off the hook for their usual Friday night movie night. Internally Felicity admitted that if things didn't go well between her and Laurel today she might have to cancel on Thea for the first time in years but she didn't tell Thea that.

Just as Felicity thought she was finally going to get on the road her usually reliable Mini refused to start. That was how she found herself squashed into the so small it was almost pointless having it back seat of Tommy's sports car.

The boys had promised to drop her home before they started their day on the town but as she sat there listening to Tommy telling Oliver all about the gorgeous, sad, huggie women he had managed to bed at his best friends funeral, she got the distinct impression she had been forgotten.

"You two do remember I'm back here right?" she checked.

"Of course we do" Tommy shot back but his dismissive tone was not convincing. "FYI Ollie, Princess here is the worst wing person in the world" he told his friend.

"Really?" Oliver wasn't at all surprised. He knew Felicity was too honest to big Tommy up to some poor unsuspecting girl whose heart he would just end up breaking.

"Really Tommy said sounding exasperated "You can see for yourself at your welcome back bash".

"Welcome back bash?" Oliver questioned "Isn't that in kind of poor taste" he asked glancing at Felicity in the rear view mirror.

"Of course not man" Tommy insisted before Felicity could even open her mouth. "You came back from the dead a party is mandatory, just tell me when and where and I'll organize everything" he assured Oliver with one of his Hollywood smiles.

Tommy's smile faded the instant the car turned into the Glades. There were homeless people everywhere, fires burnt in barrels to provide some heat and the whole area seemed to stink of despair.

"This city's going to crap" Tommy sighed sadly looking around him. "Your Dad closed his factory just in time" he told Oliver noticing his Best friend was looking at the factory in question. "Why do you want to live here Felicity?" he asked his other best friend. He hated the thought of her living in a place like this and he couldn't help but worry about her.

"I don't exactly want to live here, it's all I can afford, we are not all billionaires you know" she told him "beside it's not really as bad as it is made out to be, people around here look out for one another" she assured him.

"I guess crime fighting doesn't pay that well" Oliver mused.

"What?" both Tommy and Felicity asked looking at him in confusion.

"well I just remember you had it all planed out" Oliver said sounding a bit unsure of himself "Laurel was going to law school to be a DA and you were going to MIT to be an IT specialist for SCPD, you were both going to work with your Dad and be a family of crime fighters" he even recalled that Sara was going to be a Cop just like Quentin but now was not the time to mention that.

"You remember that? I was thirteen when we came up with that plan" Laurel had been fifteen and Sara was only twelve. Felicity was genuinely surprised Oliver had remembered something that she had mostly forgotten about "a lot of things have changed since then" she admitted but we followed through on some of it. I went to MIT and Laurel did go to law school, she is a lawyer now but she works for the CNRB not the DA's office" she explained.

From her spot in the back of the car Felicity couldn't see the look that crossed Oliver's face when she mentioned Laurels work place but Tommy saw it clearly and he knew exactly what his friend was thinking.

"Oh no" he breathed "no, no, no Ollie that is a bad idea".

"What?" Felicity asked leaning as far forward as her seat belt would allow "what's a bad idea?"

"I have to see her" Oliver stated simply.

"Her? As in Laurel" Felicity clarified in shock.

"Almost everyone's happy that your alive Ollie, do you really want to go see the one of the few people who's not" Tommy asked incredulously.

"I have too" Oliver insisted.

"Oliver, please don't do this to yourself or her" Felicity begged him softly "Laurel didn't take the news well, she needs time and if you don't give it to her things won't end well for you" she warned him, trying to be the voice of reason.

"I need to make amends" Oliver explained twisting uncomfortably in an attempt to see Felicity's face.

"But you can't" she said sadly "you said so yourself" she reminding him of their discussion from the night before.

"I have to try" Oliver sighed resigning himself to the fact that seeing Laurel again was no going to be a pleasant experience.

Tommy and Felicity shared a look both of them excepting that they couldn't change Oliver's mind, no matter how badly they wanted to.

"OK Buddy" Tommy finally agreed as he turned the car towards the CNRI building. "But don't say we didn't warn you".

"Will you at least let me go in first and prepare her?" Felicity asked as the car stopped near the CNRI.

"As much as I would appreciate you making this easier on me I don't think that's such a good idea" Oliver sighed as he got out.

"Oliver she's my Sister-"Felicity began to plead with him but he cut her off with a firm look she had never seen before.

"Yes she is you Sister" he agreed "and I have caused enough problems between the two of you already, I won't add to that by letting you put yourself in her line of fire for me" with that he slammed the car door and marched away.

"She's going to eat him alive isn't she?" Tommy muttered into the sudden silence that filled the tiny car.

"Oh yeah" Felicity agreed humourlessly.

"Want to go and watch?" he asked shooting her an impishly grin.

"Not particularly" she sighed.

"But you're going to come with me anyway" Tommy stated as he got out.

"Someone's got to keep you out of trouble" she admitted as she climbed out after him.

Talking to Laurel was just as hard as Oliver had feared it would be. He had seen how unhappy she was to see him the instant she had laid eyes on him. That was a running theme whit the Lance girls, whatever they felt was usually written all over their faces. Of the three of them Sara had always been the best a hiding her emotions but even she wasn't that good at it.

Oliver was genuinely surprised that Laurel didn't have him thrown out of the CNRI without a word but she had always been the bigger person in their relationship.

"Felicity told me you went to Law school" Oliver almost cringed at his own opening line, so much for keeping Felicity out of this. "You said you would" he added quickly hoping to distract her from his mention of her younger Sister.

"Everyone's proud" Laurel commented in her best get on with it tone.

"Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter are you sure you want to get in the ring with him" he enquired trying to put off the conversation and its inevitable conclusion for as long as possible.

"Five years" Laurel stated flatly "you have been gone for five years and you really want to talk about my case?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.

"No I don't" Oliver admitted almost regretfully.

"Then why are you here?" Laurel asked shortly.

"To apologise" Oliver sighed "everything that happened was my fault, I know that you know that already but I need to tell you myself" he explained "I also wanted to ask you not to blame her" he added softly.

"Which her?" Laurel seethed "Sara for making a stupid mistake and betraying me while she was at it or Felicity who refused to just let me hate you like I wanted to because she insisted on reminding me of all the good I once saw in you"

Oliver found himself momentarily speechless, he had come here planning to apologise and to do all he could to protect Laurel's memories of Sara. It had never occurred to him he would need to defend Felicity from Laurel's anger as well.

"How can I blame them for falling under your spell just like I did" Laurel barrelled on before Oliver could find his tongue. "Sara was my Sister and because of you I couldn't mourn her" she told him coldly.

"I never meant-"Oliver tried to interject but Laurel was on a roll.

"I couldn't grieve because I was so angry at her and I couldn't be mad at her because she was dead, that's what happens when your Sister dies screwing your Boyfriend" she hissed "and the one person that I thought would understand, that would always have my back spent the last five years defending both of you at every turn and being there for your family" it was suddenly clear to Oliver that for some reason Laurel was just as angry with her living Sister as she was with her dead one.

"Laurel, that's not fair-"he wanted to defend Felicity she was as innocent in all of this as Laurel herself.

"You know what else isn't fair" she cut in "we buried an empty coffin because Sara's body was at the bottom of the ocean, where you left her, it should have been you" she told him spitefully.

"I know it's too late and it changes nothing but I am sorry" Oliver apologised; he didn't think it would make any difference but he had to say it.

"I sorry too, I hoped you would have rotted in hell for a whole lot longer than five years" Laurel spat at him venomously before she marched away leaving a slightly broken Oliver Queen in her wake.

"How did the two of you think that would go?" Laurel asked Tommy and Felicity as she stalked past them, she didn't wait for an answer but Tommy gave her one anyway.

"About like that" he called after her.

"I think I need to talk to her" Felicity said, she hated to see Laurel so hurt and she hated that she was part of the reason for her pain even more.

"I think you're asking for trouble" Tommy warned "but we'll see you back at the car" he added knowing she wouldn't change her mind. Felicity flashed him a grateful smile before chasing after her Sister.

"Hey Laurel, wait up" Felicity yelled as she spotted the older woman just about to go back into the CNRI.

"What Felicity?" Laurel sighed turning to face the blond "have you come to tell me off for being too hard on Ollie" she asked scornfully.

"No" Felicity was shocked by Laurel's assumption "I wanted to see if you were OK, or at least as OK as you can be given the situation" she clarified.

"No" Laurel admitted "I don't think I am and I don't think I will be for a while" she continued to use the same cold tone she had directed at Felicity last night.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" the younger woman enquired.

"Don't ask me not to hate him" Laurel told her bluntly.

"Is it OK to ask you not to hate me?" Felicity asked in an attempt at levity. It was an attempt that back fired.

"Right now that feels like a lot to ask" Laurel stated coldly.

"Oh OK" Felicity didn't know how else to respond to a comment like that. "Well I'm going to go now, see around Laurel" she muttered feeling totally deflated and scurrying away.

A wave of guilt washed over Laurel as she watched the younger woman retreat. She knew it was really Oliver and Sara she should be mad at but Sara wasn't there and Felicity was, on top of that she was still backing Oliver even after everything that had happened. Laurel was hurt that Felicity didn't hate the resurrected man as much as she did but she also loved how open and forgiving her Sister was.

The lawyer needed time to sort out exactly how she felt but as soon as she did Felicity would be the first to know, she had already lost one Sister she was not going to let another go without a fight.

As Felicity trudged her way back to the alley Tommy had parked in she was debating asking the guys to drop her off at the precinct instead of home because right now she really needed one of her Dad's bear hugs.

Felicity was torn out of her musings by the sound of gun shots, gun shots that were coming from the alley way where the boys were meant to be waiting for her. For once in her life Felicity's body reacted before her brain had time to process what was happening, she was running into the alley even as her mind was yelling at her that she was going the wrong way.

When she skidded to a stop Tommy was out cold on the ground while Oliver was on his knees in the process of passing out as well. Neither of them seemed to be bleeding so she couldn't understand what the gun shots had been about, all they had done was attract unwanted attention. Then she saw the other man on the alley floor he was covered in blood and lying near one of the restaurant doors, the poor man must have stumbled upon the kidnapping.

Suddenly Felicity's insides froze as she realized she was now in the exact same position as that man had been just before he had been shot and chances were she was about to suffer the same fate as he had.

She wasn't the only one to notice the peril she was in, Oliver's hazy eyes landed on her and fear flashed across his face. An instant later one of the kidnappers spotted her as well, the man mountain raised his gun towards her and still Felicity couldn't make her feet move.

"Felicity run" Oliver managed to choke out just as he lost consciousness. As if she had been waiting for Oliver's order Felicity turned to make a run for it. She kept waiting for a bullet in the back but it never came.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw one of the other goons was forcing muscles to lower his weapon. "Don't" he hissed "she's the cop's kid, you moron". The sight of the huge man being put in his place by his much smaller counterpart would have been funny in any other situation.

"Bring her back here" the small guy ordered and Felicity pushed herself to run faster in hopes of escaping but all she achieved was tripping over her own feet.

The huge guy had her before she could even get to her feet. Her Dad had insisted that all his girls take self defence classes, Felicity knew she should be able to get away from the guy with a few well placed kicks but he was both too strong and too fast for her. She never saw the blow that knocked her out coming, she was only aware of a brief but intense pain in her jaw before the world went black.

Light flooded Oliver senses as a cloth bag was pulled off of his head. He made sure to act more disorientated than he really was to make his captors believe he had gotten a full dose of their knock out drug of choice.

Catching the dart before it had hit his neck, then covertly jabbing it into his own wrist so that he could control his dosage wasn't really a plan, it was more like a reflex after all these years. It allow him to react to the drugs as the kidnappers expected him to but it also enabled him to come to sooner that he should and that gave him a advantage over his captors. He only wished Felicity had entered the alley before he had rendered himself useless to her.

Taking in his surroundings Oliver quickly spotted Tommy lying on the cold, hard ground of the warehouse they were being held in but there was no sign of Felicity. At first he believed she must have gotten away but that hope was shattered when he refused to answered the kidnapper's questions one time too many.

They had tazed him twice trying to get him to tell them if his Father had lived long enough to reach the island. Infuriated by Oliver's silence they decided by step up their interrogation by opening up a rickety storage shed to reveal a brushed and scared looking Felicity and as far as Oliver was concerned they had just signed their own death warrants.

Felicity was conscious but gagged to keep her quiet; she was also sporting a huge burse on her jaw line. Oliver's eyes flashed from kidnapper to kidnapper until he identified that the biggest of the three was the only one with hands large enough to have inflicted the damage. He held a special kind of hatred for the man that had dared to lay a hand on Felicity; there was no question in Oliver's mind that he was going to make him pay dearly.

"Here's how this is going to work Mr Queen" the scrawny little leader told him "I ask the questions, you answer the questions and we don't shoot your lovely little friend here, you don't answer and we fill her full of holes" he grinned sickeningly while the big guy holding Felicity mimed shooting her with his finger before pushing her back into the shed he had pulled he out of and slammed to door behind her.

"Got to make it fun" the huge guy said pointing his gun at the closed door. Oliver couldn't wait to show him what real fun was.

Snapping the zip ties that bound him to his chair and taking out the kidnappers was almost too easy for Oliver, they got off a few shots but none of them even came close to touching him. He chased the last of them down, he just so happened to be the man that had hurt Felicity.

Oliver wanted to hurt him so badly but he could hear Felicity's voice in his head, begging him not to, she would never want anyone to suffer on her account not even the scum that had kidnapped and hurt her.

He ended the man's life as quickly and painlessly as he could but he did make sure he told him what he was paying for. "You killed that man and you hurt my friend" he hissed, it wasn't until the man was gone that Oliver admitted his other motivation "no one can know my secret" he whispered into the silent air.

Racing back to the warehouse where his friends were being held Oliver was shocked to find Tommy was not only awake but cradling a bleeding Felicity in his arms. Felicity did not look very with it but she was still conscious.

"What happened?" Oliver demanded at the same moment Tommy turned to yell at him.

"Where were you?" his dark haired friend spat.

Oliver fell to his knees beside his friends before he explained himself. "Some guy in a hood took out two of the kidnappers" he said pointing towards the kidnapper's bodies. "The third one took me with him; I guess he thought he could use me to save himself"

"What happened?" Tommy asked.

"It didn't work" Oliver snapped he couldn't believe Tommy was asking pointless questions while Felicity was whimpering and bleeding in his arms. He could only put it down to shock.

"Are you OK, Oliver?" Felicity managed to ask though teeth that were clenched in pain.

"I'm fine" Oliver reassured her softly "and you are going to be to, Tommy's going to get help while I take care of you" he told her.

"Help, right, I'm getting help" Tommy agreed glad that someone was taking charge. He was desperately wishing that the kidnappers hadn't taken their phones because having them now would make things so much easier. He handed Felicity off to Oliver and grabbed a nearby wooded pallet so she didn't need to lie on the floor like he had for the last few hours, then he took off as quickly as his feet could carry him.

Without Tommy hovering around Oliver was able to focus on Felicity and her wound. He lay her down on the pallet that Tommy had pulled over and turned his attention to her arm which was where the blood was coming from.

"Talk to me Felicity" he ordered "tell me what happened".

"I don't know" Felicity groaned closing her eyes in pain "ow, ow, ow, did I get shot?" she asked sounding shocked.

"Yeah, I think you did" Oliver told her as he cut her blouse sleeve with a small knife he had pulled from his boot, Felicity briefly wondered when he had started carrying a knife but that thought was chased away by a rush of relief that she had changed her top that morning she would never have forgiven Oliver for cutting up her comfort jumper, even if he had a very good reason.

Felicity's head was getting all swimmy and she suddenly just wanted to sleep she wondered if Oliver would notice if she dozed off.

"Felicity" he called in a warning tone apparently he would notice. "Felicity I need you to open your eyes" he told her firmly and with a great effort Felicity was able to comply.

"That's my girl" Oliver prised hoping his encouragement would keep her with him. The wound on her arm was thankfully nothing more than a bullet graze but she had lost enough blood that it was important to keep her awake.

"This is nothing" he assured her "your are going to need stitches but not many" he promised knowing how much she hated sharp pointy things. "I'm going to wrap it to keep it clean" he said holding up the sleeve he had chopped off to show her what he was going to use "then all we have to do is wait for Tommy and the cavalry" he told her trying to keep things light.

"Where did you learn all this Oliver?" Felicity asked groggily.

"I watch a lot of action movies" Oliver answered in an off handed manner as he bandaged his friends arm with her own sleeve. He knew that if Felicity wasn't in so much pain she would have been the first person to point out that hadn't seen an action film in the last five years, but as it was she just sat there biting her lip and making a concerted effort to stay awake. It was then that Oliver noticed the beginnings of a burse on her temple that had not been there earlier.

"Felicity, did you hit your head?" he asked her firmly.

"Not badly" she said trying to keep her answers short. The world was beginning to spin and Oliver was starting to look kind of blurry, that could have been down to the loss of her glasses but she didn't think it was.

"Felicity, stay with me" Oliver called but Felicity didn't understand why, she hadn't gone anywhere. She was vaguely aware of sirens in the distance but they were getting harder and harder to focus on.

"Do you hear that Felicity?" Oliver asked her, she tried to nod her head but it wouldn't move. "That's help coming, Tommy's bringing you help, you have to stay awake long enough to thank him" he insisted but Felicity just couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

"Felicity open your eyes!" Oliver yelling at her was the last thing she heard before her world went dark for the second time that day.

Funnily enough the first thing Felicity became aware of when to was yet more yelling but this time it wasn't Oliver's voice it was her Father's

"Are you trying to get all of my daughters killed" he shouted at someone, she assumed it was Oliver. "Wasn't one of them enough for you" her Dad raged and Felicity's heart hurt for him.

"Dad" she croaked hoping he would hear her.

"Felicity" Quentin Lance was at her side in an instant. "Felicity" he whispered "your OK sweetheart" he tried to reassure his daughter as he helped her to sit up. Felicity could finally see who else was in the hospital room with them.

Her Dad's partner Detective Lucas Hamilton stood near the door, Tommy was sat at the window and Oliver was hovering at the end of her bed. All of the men were looking very worried and slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah" Felicity agreed with her Father's statement "I'm OK, thanks to Oliver and Tommy" she told him.

"Yeah, I heard all about how they saved you, after putting you in danger in the first place" Quentin said dismissively.

"Dad, stop it" Felicity reprimanded him and Hamilton had to cover his laugh with a cough. Laughing at your partner when he was put in his place by his bed bound daughter was not something a good partner did; sometimes Lucas wished he wasn't such a good partner.

"Do you feel up to answering some questions Miss Lance?" Hamilton asked once he had recovered from his cough, he and Quentin had decided it was best if he conducted the interview while his partner took on the role of the concerned parent of the victim.

Felicity talked them though everything that happed after she left Laurel at the CNRI, detective Hamilton dutifully noted down everything she said. No one had any input while she talked save for the odd growl that her Father let slip over what had happened to her.

It wasn't until she reached the point in her story where she was been returned to the shed after being threatened at gun point that Hamilton interrupted to ask her a question.

"Did you see this man at any point during your abduction?" he asked handing her an artists sketch. Felicity had to squint to see it properly without her glasses; the picture was of a man with a strong jaw line wearing what looked like a cape.

"No" she said after a moment "Is he the one who saved us?" she asked.

Her Father cut in before Hamilton could answer her "according to Mr Queen he is, all Mr Merlyn saw was a blur" Felicity could hear the disbelief in her Dad's voice loud and clear.

"Well I saw even less that that" she told him " I bumped my head when the big guy threw me back in that little shed thing and once I heard the gun's going off I hit the ground" she explained quickly.

"Not that it did me any good" she commented looking at her bandage arm sadly.

"Hey, hey it's OK" her Dad said taking the hand of her good arm in his. "Let's slow down" he instructed smoothly. "What happed after the gun's started going off?" he asked.

"Not not much" Felicity admitted "It got quiet and I came out. Tommy was out cold on the floor and Oliver wasn't there, I managed to wake Tommy up but then my head started to really hurt and then things get kind of hazy" she told them feeling like she was kind of failing at the whole being a witness thing.

Quentin could see how defeated his Daughter felt and he couldn't have that. "You did good kid" assured her "and as for your arm the Doc say it's only a graze and you got yourself a grand total of four stitched, not bad for the kid that would never get her flew shot" he told her with a grin.

A moment later the hospital room door swung open to reveal Moira Queen and Walter Steel. "Detectives" Moira greeted coolly "I would rather you not question my son without me present" she informed them.

"Your son is a grown ass man" Quentin shot back at her. He was usually able to be at least civil to the Queen's for Felicity's sake if nothing else but usually she wasn't hospitalised because Oliver Queen had gotten her kidnapped.

The Busyness woman and the Detective glared fiercely at one another from across the room. Detective Hamilton thought it was best that he intercede seen as he knew nether of them were going to back down anytime soon.

"Mrs Queen, your son is here as a witness not a suspect, he has already voluntarily given his statement. The only reason he is still here now is because he refused to leave until miss Lance came around" he explained formally.

At the mention of Felicity Moira's eyes flicked to the girl in the bed "Felicity dear, how are you feeling?" she enquired her tone was a strange mix of disinterest and concern.

"I'm alright thank you Moira" Felicity reassured the older woman.

"Well I'm glad to hear that" Moira Commented.

"All thanks to Oliver and Tommy, they were real heroes" Felicity once again praised her friends.

Moira gave her a tight smile and Tommy looked a slightly embarrass but Oliver didn't react to her comment at all, he just remained motionless at the end of her bed as if he were standing guard of her.

That was when Moira decided it was time to leave, she silently usher Tommy towards the door and tugged on Oliver's arm to encourage him to come along too. Just as Oliver was turning to follow his Mother Tommy decided to speak up for the first time since Felicity had come to.

"You know what?" he announced throwing his hands up in the air "I am not going anywhere without saying a proper goodbye to Felicity". Oliver didn't say anything but stood firm at Tommy's side also reusing to leave.

Moira didn't look too happy but she didn't say anything negative instead she smiled that tight smile again. "Don't keep Felicity too long boys, she needs her rest" she reminded them as she disappeared out of the door followed by her husband.

"Come on Quentin, I will buy you some bad Hospital coffee" Hamilton offered in hopes of giving the youngsters some privacy. Felicity shot him a grateful smile but her Dad looked even less happy than Moira had.

"I'll be fine Dad" Felicity promised him "I'm not going to go anywhere" she swore.

"You better not" Quentin sighed "or I'm locking you in a jail cell just so I know where you are" He told her. Tommy gave a slight laugh but Felicity wasn't sure her Dad was joking he gave her a hard look and a kiss on the forehead before following his partner out of the room.

Tommy gave the detectives about three seconds to get clear before he rushed to Felicity's bed side and hugged her as tightly as he dared with her bad arm.

"Don't you ever do that to us again" he ordered "do you know how scared we were?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you" Felicity said "and if it any comfort, I think I have had enough adventure for a while" she smiled.

"A while" Tommy shot back "try ever, from now on you run away from gun shots not towards them, got it" he clarified.

"Got it" she agreed as Tommy finally let go of her.

"Oh" he gasped "be sure to wear a dress that shows of you wound at tomorrow night's party, I intend to tell every girl I see that I helped to save your life" he told her smiling widely.

"Tommy I've been shot" Felicity complained, she thought if anything would get her out of Oliver's party it would be a bullet wound.

"It's just a graze, even your Dad says you're going to be fine" he said as he made his way to the door of her hospital room "I told you one day I would make a decent wing person of you, seems I finally have, nine o'clock, don't be late" Tommy shot her one last charming grin before leaving her and Oliver alone.

Felicity was still giggling at Tommy's antics when she turned her attention to Oliver but all laughter fled as soon as she laid eyes on him. She had never seen Oliver so look so dark and brooding before it was genuinely quite unnerving.

"Oliver what's wrong?" she asked in concern.

"What's wrong is you could have died today Felicity and there was nothing I could do about it" he told her sadly

Oliver was beating himself up for what had happened to her, well that was going to stop right now. "OK 1) I was nowhere near death Oliver and 2) you did do something, you and Tommy both did, I meant what I said about you being heroes. You really did save the day"

"I think the guy in green did that" Oliver stated just sadly as before.

"No" Felicity insisted "what he did was kill three guys that should be in a jail cell right now, you are the one who saved me" she told him with a gentle smile. "Don't get me wrong Olive I am glad he swooped in to save us but I also believe there had to be another way he could have saved us, those were not good men but they didn't deserve to die" she sighed.

Oliver sighed too and for moment she thought she saw a flash of shame race across his face but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure. "I guess your right" he admitted

"Oliver I'm always right" she grinned at him "now you better go your Mom is waiting and I am not fit enough to deal with a put out Moira Queen" she warned.

"OK" Oliver agreed leaning over to hug her just like Tommy had "but do me a favour and stay out of trouble, I just got back and I can't lose you again" he told her solemnly.

"I'll do my best" she promised, she wanted to give him something more solid but she wouldn't make him a promise she couldn't keep.

Oliver didn't comment on the flimsiness of her promise he just kissed her cheek and left with mixed emotions. Part of him was over the moon that Felicity wasn't enamoured with the enigma that had saved them, keeping her safe would be much easier that way but another part of him felt uneasy. The thought of Felicity disliking any part of him didn't sit well with him but he was going to have to get use to it, because The Hood had just arrived in Starling City and he had a lot of work to do.

 _Thanks for reading, any and all feedback is gratefully received._

 _Thanks again Millie xXx_


	5. Coming home part 4

**The other Lance girl**

AN: Hey there everyone, I know I am very late with this but A) I have an excuse, I was out with my Grandparents yesterday because it was their 55th wedding anniversary and B) I hope this chapter is worth the wait because I had great fun with it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Chapter 4**

 **Coming home part 4**

After the boys had left Felicity assumed she would spend the next few hours with nothing but the hospitals crummy TV for company. Her Dad had confiscated all of her technical devices because the Doctor had insisted she needed to rest, he had even taken her phone away.

She knew her Dad would come back to visit her as soon as he could but she also knew his shift at the precinct wouldn't finish for a good while yet, particularly with a possible new threat in town. Felicity got the feeling that they hadn't heard the last of the man in the hood.

She was surprised when after only an hour of boredom there was a knock on her door, she was even more surprised to see Laurel enter the room. The Lawyer had a brown paper bag in her hand and a sheepish smile on her face.

"Hey" she greeted softly.

"Hey Laurel, what are you doing here" Felicity couldn't hide her astonishment at her big Sister's arrival. She knew Laurel loved her and would have been worried if she was badly hurt but everyone was telling her she would be just fine, so shouldn't she still be in the dog house with Laurel. The older woman wasn't one to forgive and forget quickly, she never had been.

"Felicity, you were shot, where else would I be?" Laurel looked hurt by Felicity's question but her answer sounded practiced like she had expected to be questioned and had prepared for it. It was a habit she had always had but Felicity noticed it happened more now she was appearing in court regularly.

"I figured you would still be in work" Felicity told her truthfully "you have worked so hard to bring Hunt down; I didn't think you would let anything distract you. Not even this" she said gesturing to her bandaged arm.

Laurel heaved a sigh and gave Felicity a slightly aggravated look that usually led to a lecture but yet again her Sister surprised her.

"I'm sorry I was so awful to you earlier Felicity" Laurel apologised "I was so angry, at so many people but you were the one that was there so I just dumped it all on you" she explained "I shouldn't have done that and now I really wish I hadn't" she admitted sadly.

Felicity knew her mouth was hanging open but she seemed to be unable to close it. Laurel was good at an awful lot of things, admitting when she was wrong wasn't one of them.

"It's OK Laurel" she finally reassured the other woman once she had regained control of her mouth. "You were hurt and angry, I get that and besides you weren't that bad". Felicity could tell how bad her Sister felt and she didn't want to make it worse by admitting just how much her words had hurt.

"It's not OK Felicity" Laurel shot right back "I shouldn't have taken my crap out on you, you really didn't deserve it. I know I can't take it back but hopefully I can make it up to you" she said holding up the bag she had bought with her.

"Oooooo, bribery always works" Felicity grinned back "What you got?" she asked.

"I have Ice cream" Laurel announced pulling a pint of mint chock chip and two spoons out of the bag "and" she added sounding very pleased with herself "I have contraband" she said pulling Felicity's phone from her jeans pocket with a flourish.

"Oh Laurel you are forgiven for your next three screw up already, not that you screw up often so you won't need the free passes but you got them anyway, that's how well you did with your apology" Felicity rambled while making grabby hands at the phone. Laughing Laurel relinquished the tiny device and set about opening the Ice cream.

"So what are we watching?" she asked taking a seat on the edge of Felicity's bed and depositing the tub of minty chocolately goodness between the two of them.

"Ally McBeal" Felicity answered glancing up from her phone just long enough to grab the spoon Laurel offered her. She had about forty texts to answer, most of which were from a very freaked out Thea.

"Really" the Lawyer raised an eyebrow at the blond "you know that this show is a gross misrepresentation of Law firms everywhere" she said in an unimpressed tone.

"This is Hospital TV we are talking about Laurel, there's not much to choose from" Felicity defended her taste in entertainment "besides the dancing baby is kind of cute" she added.

"You say cute, I say creepy" Laurel said giving a slight cringe; she had always hated that darn baby.

Felicity couldn't help but laugh watching Laurel try not to watch the show. She put up a valiant struggle but soon she was getting drawn in just like she used to when she was younger. To Felicity it didn't matter that she was in a bland little hospital room or that the constant throbbing in her arm was determined to remind her she had been shot that day, she felt normal for the first time since she had gotten Thea's late night phone call. Things might not ever be the same again but right now they felt good and that was more than she had dared to hope for a few hours ago.

When Felicity was released the next day there was no way her Dad was letting her go back to her own apartment, so she found herself tucked up safe in her childhood bedroom.

Both Laurel and her Father had to work so she had the house to herself, normally that would lead to her dancing around the living room to the cheesiest 90s tunes she could find. The type of music she loved but was too embarrassed to let even her family know about.

Sadly she didn't feel up to dancing yet, her arm already felt better than it had the night before but that in no way meant she was well enough to party. A fact she tried to explain to Tommy multiple times both via text and over the phone. It didn't matter what she said he just kept insisting that he was having her picked up and if she wasn't ready when the driver arrived the man had been ordered to bring her anyway. If that meant she had to turn up to Oliver's party in her ratty old Doctor Who PJ's Tommy didn't care at least she would be there. As badly as Felicity wanted to believe Tommy was just joking she didn't think he was, she knew him better than that.

She was beyond thankful when Laurel stopped in to check in on her on the way home from work.

"Please take me home with you" Felicity pleaded with her Sister while Laurel chucked at the cloths covered bed the younger woman was trying to hide in.

"Can't decide what to wear?" the Lawyer asked teasingly as she realized the bed was not the only place Felicity had staked her rejected outfits, every surface in the room was covered.

"Laurel" Felicity winded "I really don't want to go, please just take me home with you and hide me" she begged

"I wish could" Laurel sighed "but your my ride" she admitted quickly "now let's get you dressed before you are partying in your pyjamas"

Laurel disappeared into Felicity's closet before the blond could question her "how do you still have so many cloths here?" Laurel wondered aloud "You moved out years ago". She remerged with an armful of dresses.

"I like cloths so sue me" Felicity muttered off handily then she remembered she was talking to a Lawyer "actually no please don't, I'm still paying off my student loans and I can't afford anymore out goings and what do you mean I'm your ride?" she tacked her question onto the end of her rabble so quickly that Laurel almost missed it.

"Well-"Laurel tried to explain but she was cut off by Felicity suddenly giggling like a school girl.

"Oh. My. Gosh. You're going to Oliver's welcome home party" she cheered "what did Tommy promise you to get you to agree to that?"

"How did you know it was Tommy?" Laurel attempted to doge the question.

"Well you're not going for Oliver's sake" Felicity reasoned. She knew that both her Sister and best friend were reluctant to put a label on their quasi relationship but she also knew they would do anything for each other.

"Actually I am going for Oliver's sake" Laurel defended herself "his and mine" she amended at Felicity's disbelieving look. "Tommy pointed out we had been through too much together to end up as enemies, we should at least be able to be civil to each other".

"How did Tommy convince you of that in just one day?" Felicity wondered, she knew how stubborn Laurel could be and she never would have believed that she could be talked around so quickly.

"He may or may not have used you and him as bargaining chips, he made me see that as long as I go around hating Oliver the two of you are going to keep getting caught in the cross fire, and that is not fair" the older woman explained softly.

"Thank you Laurel" Felicity was genuinely touched

"You want to thank me?" Laurel asked "Hurry up and get dressed, don't make me do this alone" it was she who was pleading now.

"I wouldn't dream of it" Felicity grinned and accepted the smart dress and jacket combo that Laurel held out to her.

Tommy's driver turned up exactly when he had said he would and the two women entered the car quickly before either of them could lose their nerve. The car ride could have been quiet and awkward but Laurel was determined not to let that happen.

"Hey" she whispered to her Sister "did you hear your rescuer struck again last night?"

"The Man in the Hood?" Felicity's brow furrowed she hadn't heard anything about that and she had done nothing but watch TV since she had gotten home.

"Yeah, he went after Adam Hunt, took out two armed guards and demanded a ton of money" Laurel continued to whisper obviously not wanting the driver to hear her.

"How do you know all this?" Felicity asked suspiciously, Laurel could have got the information from their Dad but Quentin Lance was not the kind to leak the details of an ongoing investigation not even to his daughters.

"I have my ways" Laurel smirked.

"Which means you flirted with some cop or other and they told you the whole story" Felicity translated.

"I did no such thing" Laurel sounded outraged "I let him do all the flirting; I just sat there and smiled".

"And he still told you everything" Felicity summed up with a grin.

"Pretty much" Laurel agreed with a laugh. The two of them were still laughing like tipsy teenagers when they pulled up at Oliver's party.

Entering a Tommy Merlyn party almost felt like descending into a different world to Laurel. Lights of every colour flashed all around her, the steady beat of the music pulsated through her entire body and the only thing that felt at all safe or familiar was her Sister's hand clasped firmly in her own.

"I'm thinking we need Dutch courage" she announced to the small blond beside her.

"I'm thinking that is a really bad idea considering I am on pain meds" Felicity shouted to be heard over the music.

Ignoring her Sister's objections Laurel started to pull her towards the bar, Felicity followed along without a fight until she spotted the Queen siblings, they were huddled together on the side of the dance floor and they seemed to be engaged in a heated discussion.

Felicity froze up, she couldn't help it, she had spent the last five years looking out for Thea and her instincts were screaming at her that the girl needed her now as much as ever. She was already making her way over to the Queens when Laurel pulled her back.

"Felicity, let Ollie handle this one" she suggested gently.

"What, no he can't" Felicity protested, as dearly as she loved Thea she was not blind to the girls faults, Oliver did not know what he was dealing with and it wasn't fair to expect him to handle Thea, not with the mood she was clearly in.

"Yes he can" Laurel insisted "I know you think it's your job to look after Thea but Oliver's back now, give him a chance to be her brother".

"It's not my job, I love her" Felicity muttered somewhat defensively

"You love both of them" Laurel said with a soft, understanding smile "you want to protect them but that's not what they need from you right now. What they need is for you to give them a chance to become Brother and Sister again. It will take some time but it will take even longer if you keep sticking your nose in their busyness" She explained in a teasing but encouraging tone. Sometimes Felicity hated how well Laurel read all those around her, it made her pretty hard to keep up with.

Turning her back on Oliver and Thea when she truly believed they needed her was one of the hardest things Felicity had done in a long time but Laurel was right as she usually was. So heaving a sight and swallowing a surge of guilt she turned and followed her big Sister to the bar.

"OK" she muttered to the smiling brunet "now I need a drink"

"Here you go" Laurel said handing Felicity a glass of pink lemonade while wearing a huge grin.

"Gee thanks" Felicity dead paned as she continued to watch the Queen siblings from a safe distance.

Eventually Thea stormed off leaving Oliver looking lost and Felicity feeling even guiltier than she had before. She was just getting up to follow the younger woman when a very tall, very solid, very familiar finger collided with her. His hands had shot out to steady her before his eye had even found her face. For a moment Felicity considered doing a runner partly because she really wanted to check on Thea and partly because she wasn't sure whether or not Oliver would tell her off for being out of bed so soon.

"Your here" Oliver gaped at Felicity in complete disbelief. "How's your arm felling? And what are you doing here?" he asked genuinely concerned about her well being.

"Apparently not bad enough to get me out of one of Tommy's infamous party's" Felicity said indicating to her arm "and as for what I'm doing here, I came with her" she said pointing over his shoulder.

Oliver turned and found himself face to face with the last person he had expected to see. "Laurel" he gasped "what are you doing here?" it didn't escape Oliver's notice that he had asked both Sisters the same question but he was too surprised to think of anything more original.

"Tommy" was all she said at first and Oliver could see Felicity trying hard not to giggle at the two of them being so tough tied, she probably thought it was due to unresolved feelings or something instead of shock and for some reason that didn't sit well with Oliver.

Laurel's mind finally court up with her mouth "He pointed out that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them" she quickly explained. "Is there some place quieter we can go?" she asked, they needed to have this talk but she really didn't want to have it yelling over noisy club music.

"Yeah of course" Oliver agreed "just give me one minute" he said signalling for someone to come join them.

A man mountain even bigger than the one involved in the kidnapping seemed to come out of nowhere, Felicity found she couldn't take her eyes off of his arms. Even in the suit he was wearing it was clear they were the size of bowling balls.

"Lady's this is my body guard John Diggle, Diggle these are two of my dearest friends Laurel and Felicity Lance" Oliver said making the introductions. "Diggle, Laurel and I need to talk but I don't want to leave Felicity alone, she was shot yesterday and probably should still be in bed" Diggle's eyebrows shot up at his bosses explanation. "Would you mind keeping her company for a moment?" Oliver asked.

He knew Diggle should say no that it was his job to watch Oliver at all times but he was hoping that the almost immediate need to protect that Felicity seemed to inspire would kick in and make his slipping away easier.

"I'm sure that Mr Merlyn or any number of your other guests would be happy to entertain Miss Lance until you, I and her Sister return" Diggle assured Oliver as he moved to follow him and Laurel wherever they went.

"I'm sure they would" Oliver agreed "but I am not sure I trust them" he explained leading Diggle a few steps away from both women. Oliver lowered his voice to a whisper before continuing "Please Diggle, I know this is not your job but she was kidnapped and shot just because she happened to be with me, I can't let anything else happen to her" he pleaded. As much as he wanted Diggle distracted, he wanted Felicity safe more.

"I'm giving you five minutes man and that's it" the body guard told him with a huff.

"Thank you" Oliver sighed and he truly meant it.

"You know Oliver I'm a big girl" Felicity told him when he and Diggle returned to where she and Laurel were still sitting at the bar "I don't need a baby sitter"

"Well neither do I" Oliver countered "but I have one and now so do you" he smirked

"Temporally at least" Diggle added taking a seat on the stool beside her "see you in five Mr Queen" he said giving Oliver a pointed look, Oliver took that as his cue to leave and quickly led Laurel away.

Oliver and Laurel weren't even out of sight when Tommy joined Felicity and Diggle at the bar. "Princess" he greeted her with a hug, "big scary body guard guy" he nodded at Diggle.

"Felicity what are you wearing" Tommy winded "I gave you strict instructions on your dress code for this evening" he said waving his hand at the almost busyness like jacket she was wearing over her equally smart dress.

"Don't blame me, this outfit was picked by your- whatever you and Laurel are" she told him indicating to her departing Sister.

Tommy gave an uncomfortable cough, shot Felicity a slight smile and moved on down the bar to greet more of Oliver's party guests. Felicity couldn't help but laugh at Tommy's reaction; she was pleasantly surprised to hear Diggle chuckling as well.

Oliver's second discussion with Laurel went as badly as he feared it would, she offered forgiveness for his past wrongs and support for the future. He wanted to except in a heartbeat but he couldn't, it wouldn't be fair, he deserved her hatred and he needed to keep at least one of the Lance girls safe, he owed Sara that much. If he was less selfish he would be pushing both Felicity and Laurel away but he couldn't bring himself to let Felicity go.

Dialling up his inner jerk Oliver told Laurel that he didn't want or need her help and she should stay away from him for her own sake. He could see the pain in her eyes but she wasn't giving up on him, not yet, he needed to push harder.

"Look, Laurel I got to roll, I have five years of debauchery to catch up on" he told her in his cockiest tone.

Hurting Laurel felt like a low blow but Oliver knew it had to be done. For a moment he thought she was just going to walk way and leave him standing there but that wasn't her style, it never had been, Laurel Lance always had a parting shot.

"You really want me out of your life so that you don't hurt me Oliver?" she asked coolly, Oliver just held his ground and gave her a firm nod.

"Fine, then I'm out, I wish I could claim I was taking Felicity with me but we both know she won't give up on you, I do promise you this though Oliver, if you hurt my Sister in any way at all I will make you wish you were back on that island, do I make myself clear" she spat and again Oliver just nodded

"Good" Laurel decreed and with that she sauntered her way out of Oliver Queens's life for what they both thought would be the last time.

Oliver hated to hurt Laurel; he had spent half his life believing himself to be in love with her but he knew it was for her own good, he also knew that despite what Laurel had said it might cost him Felicity's friendship but maybe that was for the best. Just because he couldn't bring himself to push her away didn't mean that Oliver didn't know she would be better off without him. Sighing he let his focus shift from what an awful human being he could be to his new purpose in life, the protection of his city.

Oliver had every intention of slipping out, dealing with Hunt and slipping back in without anyone noticing but he had underestimated one John Diggle.

"The party's this way Mr Queen" the man told him as he emerged from the nearest shadow.

"Yeah, I know" Oliver gritted out before putting his playboy mask firmly back in place "Talking to Laurel didn't go well, I just needed a minute to myself" he lied smoothly.

John didn't say anything he just indicated to the door. Oliver was about to reach for the door handle when he suddenly realized that if Diggle was with him the Felicity was either alone or with a very angry Laurel and he wasn't sure which of those options he disliked more.

"Where's Felicity?" he asked trying to sound casual and knowing he failed.

"She is taking your Sister home" Diggle said stoically "Miss Queen came dangerously close to making a scene so Felicity intervened" he explained.

"How did she manage that?" Oliver wondered he wouldn't have believed that anyone could get Thea to go home before she was ready but apparently Felicity had.

"Felicity claimed that her Sister had taken off with their shared ride, then she played up her sore arm and her need to go home. Miss Queen was only too happy to play the hero and rush Felicity back to the mansion for some much needed rest" Oliver didn't miss the pride that shone in Diggle's eyes when he explained how Felicity had handled his Sister. He also didn't miss that he now called Felicity by her given name while he and everyone else was still Mr or Mrs.

"She asked me to come back here and tell her Sister what had happened" Diggle told him. "I get the impression you are lucky she wasn't around to see just how much you upset said Sister" Diggle was actually smirking now and seeing the man expressing some emotion was going to make incapacitating him just that bit harder on Oliver.

Diggle once again indicated to the door that would lead back to Oliver's party, the door Oliver had no intention of going through any time soon. Heaving an almost regretful sigh Oliver reached for the door handle and put his real plans for the evening into action.

Getting Thea to leave a party had never been so easy for Felicity, if she had known the secret to getting the girls full cooperation was getting shot she would have done it sooner. Actually she probably wouldn't because her arm really was starting to hurt like heck, but at least it came with perks that seemed to include a more manageable Thea and a quick to forgive Laurel.

Thea had crashed out on one of the Queens huge sofas as soon as they had gotten back and ever since then Felicity had mindlessly flipping through the million TV channels they seemed to have. What she really wanted to do was go home but every member of the Queen/Steel family were out and Felicity refused to dump a tipsy Thea on Raisa, she guessed she should be thankful that Thea was only tipsy. Felicity had seen the teenager in far worse situations before and had to deal with her all alone, at least Oliver seemed to care about what his Sister was getting up to; Felicity could only hope he would be more help than Moira had been over the years.

Finally giving up on finding anything she actually wanted to watch Felicity settled on using some entertainment, gossip channel to monitor what was happening at the party she and Thea had just left. There had been a time she had hated such channels but over the last few years her strong emotion had subsided and been replaced by a mild dislike. She assumed that was down to the fact that she had been able to turn them on without seeing her best friends splashed all over the screen with the odd shot of herself thrown into the mix.

Tommy had made an appearance now and again over the last few years but without Oliver at his side he was considered a small side story instead of a headliner. If tonight's viewing was anything to go by Felicity was pretty sure she would be back to hating them soon enough.

Felicity had to be honest she had expected Oliver's party to rage all night and only end when he and Tommy drunkenly stumbled out of the doors. A police raid at one of Tommy's bashes was not unheard of but the police had never been looking for an arrow shooting, hood wearing vigilante before, at least not as far as Felicity knew.

Felicity's jaw dropped as she watched the madness unfold live on screen. Her first thought was for Laurel, she had still been talking to Oliver when Tommy had asked Felicity to take Thea home, both he and Dig had promised to look out for her but she knew nether of them would be able to protect her Sister from the lecture of a life time if their Father caught her at Oliver Queen's welcome back from the dead party.

Felicity moved a little way away from the sleeping Thea and reminded herself to keep her voice down as she dialled her Sisters number. She had envisioned herself having to deal with a lot of different reactions from Laurel after she pretty much abandoned her with Oliver, particularly given their recent fight, one reaction Felicity had never imagined was tears, but that was what she got. Laurel was sobbing down the phone as soon as she knew it really was her Sister on the other end of the line.

"What did he do?" Felicity demanded there had only ever been one person who could upset Laurel this badly, Oliver.

She listened with a clenched jaw as Laurel talked her through what had happened between her and Oliver. Felicity didn't know what to say, sorry didn't seem to cover it and as much as she wanted to make Laurel feel better she wasn't about to give up her stance that deep down Oliver really was a good guy. All Felicity could do was listen as her super strong big Sister cried herself out. Felicity might not know what to say to Laurel but she knew exactly what she was going to say to Oliver, she was going to demand answers.

Oliver was genuinely glad to be returning to the mansion by the time he got there. His plans had not run as smoothly as he would have liked but he got the job done. Getting shot had not been part of the plan but the bullet hadn't penetrated his suit so it only slowed him down momentarily. Unfortunately that moment was all it took for Detectives Lance and Hamilton to see him make his getaway, something else he hadn't planned on.

Dealing with angry Lance's had become the theme of Oliver's evening but at least both Laurel and Felicity were gone before Quentin arrived, if they had still been there Oliver dread to think what the Detective's reaction would have been.

Convincing a solider like John Diggle that he had just passed out hadn't been easy but the fact that the man truly believed he was nothing more than a spoilt playboy worked in Oliver's favour. It never occurred to Diggle that a pampered little rich boy like him could possibly have gotten the drop on and choked out a fully trained action man like John.

Tommy's suspicions were the icing on the top of the cake of things he didn't need. Thankfully his friend had always been easily distracted and soon enough he would know that Oliver and Laurel were truly over. Finally having a chance with the woman he had always loved should be distraction enough to make Tommy forget about anything and everything else.

All in all Oliver was pleased with his night's work, he wished the body count had been lower on Hunts men but he took some comfort in the fact that he had spared as many of them as he could, those that went down wounded and stayed down would live, those that had insisted on getting up and fighting him hadn't. He knew that to other people his reasoning would seem flawed but he didn't have the luxury of seeing the world the way other people did any more.

Oliver had expected to walk into a silent empty house but he was surprised to find both Thea and Felicity in the living area and the TV on, still showing coverage of his Party.

Thea was draped over one of the large sofas fast asleep and Felicity was curled up in one of the arm chairs with a book in her lap. She had changed at some point, gone was the conservative dress and jacket set, which he was sure had once belonged to a teenaged Laurel. Now she was sporting the same ratty red sweater she had been wearing when he had first seen her again, he wondered if she remembered stealing it from him all those years ago.

Something about seeing Felicity wrapped up in his clothes and sitting in his home bought a smile to Oliver's lips, his first genuine smile in a very long time. Oliver was shocked to find that didn't want that moment to end he could have stood there just watching Felicity for hours but knowing her she was probably dying to go home so regretfully he interrupted his friend's reading.

"Hey" he greeted her "thanks for bring her home" he said indicating to his sleeping Sister "Diggle told me what you did"

"And Laurel told me what you did" she said snapping the book closed with a cold look in her usually warm eyes "you took the chance she offered you and you stomped all over it" she spat as she slowly got to her feet.

A cold and angry Felicity was a new experience for Oliver but it was so reminiscent of Laurel's icy anger that he couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't some well hidden biological connection between the two of them.

"What happened to making amends?" Felicity demanded in that same cold tone.

"This is me making amends" Oliver sighed "I am protecting Laurel from getting hurt again" he said trying to explain "the island changed me Felicity, as much as we all want to pretend I'm the same man I was before, I'm not and I'm never going to be" he desperately needed her to understand the boy she knew was gone and the man he was now was dangerous. He needed her to be on her guard and ready to defend herself because while he would never physically hurt her there were hundreds of ways he could break her heart and he didn't think he could forgive himself if that ever happened.

"I know you're a different person now Oliver" Felicity sighed her tone thawing slightly "but what I don't know is if the island made you a better or a worse" she said sadly. "I always saw the good in you in you Oliver and I spent the last five years reminding everyone of that goodness but sometimes you really don't make it easy" she gave him a soft smile.

Oliver wanted to say something, anything to make Felicity smile again but he knew she felt like she needed to say this, she had to get it out. He just hoped that when she was done they weren't done too.

"I have been dealing with Ollie Queen since I was nine years old and I can handle whoever it is you have now become Oliver, but you have to stop pushing me away" she told him honestly.

"Felicity, I'm not pushing you away" Oliver told her clearly confused.

"Yes you are" Felicity insisted "did you really think you could treat Laurel the way you did tonight and it would have no affect on you and me?" she asked him crossly.

Oliver was once again shocked that Felicity seemed to know him better than he knew himself. Maybe he had been trying to protect Felicity as well as Laurel.

"I get that you struggling right now Oliver, everyone wants you to get back to normal but you can't because you're not even sure you know who you are any more let alone what normal is for you and that must be kind of scary. Not knowing yourself is like being without a foundation and without a foundation nothing can stand, not a building, not a relationship, not a man, nothing" Felicity told solemnly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"So" she added in a decidedly more perky tone "until you know who this version of Oliver Queen is, I'll be your foundation" she vowed. "I'll support you and do all I can to keep you steady and strong. No matter how hard you push me I'm not going anywhere, I promise" she said going up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

Oliver was completely shocked, whatever he had expected from Felicity a declaration of her support of and loyalty to him was not it. Her rendering him speechless seemed to be happening a lot lately, he just watched in silence as she gathered her things and headed for the door.

"Tell Thea I'll be in touch" Felicity called over her shoulder to him.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked well aware it was dumb question but he didn't want her to go yet.

"Home, to comfort my Sister and convince my Father that can't justify killing you by claiming he did it to protect and serve the city" she told him with a wry smile.

"Thank you Felicity, for everything" Oliver sighed, he really wasn't sure what he would do without her.

"It's what friends do" she assured him softly.

"It's what best friends do" he countered.

"Best friends" Felicity agreed with a breath taking smile.

Felicity gave Oliver one last wave before she vanished into the night, she had no way of knowing she was taking a small piece of his heart with her. Felicity Lance had and always would be the brightest spot in Oliver's life; he just hoped he could keep her in it when she found out what he had really become on the island.

 _Thinks for reading, I would love to know what you think._

 _Millie xXx_


	6. Coming home episode tag

**The other Lance girl**

AN1: Hey there guys, guess what? I'm off work sick with a horrible cold, so you get the episode tag today instead of having to wait till the weekend. Thank you all so much for your feedback, I have had some of the nicest reviews ever on this story, I can't say how much some of them have touched me, so thanks again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

 **Chapter 5**

 **Coming home episode tag**

It took almost a week for Felicity to convince her family she was well enough to go home to her own apartment. Quentin tried to use her continued association with Oliver Queen as proof that the bump on her head was not the minor thing the Doctors had made it out to be, because a serious head injury was the only reason he could come up with to explain why she was still wasting her time with him.

Surprisingly Laurel was far more excepting of Felicity and Oliver's friendship. She promised to be as supportive as she could be, she even said that she would be prepared to offer Oliver another chance herself but not for a while yet, she claimed they both needed more time but Felicity was sure her Sisters hurt pride had something to do with it.

Felicity wasn't sure what the future held for Laurel and Oliver but she did know one thing they were far from done, she just hoped that Laurel realized what everyone else had seen years ago. The whole time she was with Oliver she was dating the wrong best friend, Tommy had always been the one for her.

Quentin had set one condition on his letting her go back home and that was he had to drop her off and check it out for himself, Felicity had rolled her eyes and complained about being treated like a baby but she had agreed in the end.

Her Dad's inspection of her apartment was quick but comprehensive, he was unhappy that the catch on her bathroom window was broken and insisted he would be round to fix it the following weekend, until then he wanted her to board it up, but other than that he was content.

As Felicity walked him out as she always did she couldn't help but feel a little bit sad even though she was glad to be home. She had missed her independence when she had been staying with her Dad but she couldn't deny it had been really nice to be looked after for a while. Sometimes she forgot just how nice it had been to be part of the Lance family before they lost Sara. She missed the way they use to be and then and there she made her mind up she was going to do all she could to bring those times back for her, Laurel and their Dad.

"I still don't like you living here" her Father commented when they reached his car.

"I know you don't think its safe Dad but maybe things are going to change around here" she said with a shrug.

"Why? Because of some murderer in a hood?" Quentin asked in stunned disbelief.

"I don't agree with his methods Dad" Felicity reissued him before he decide to drag her back home "But he did save my life and he took down Adam Hunt when the Law couldn't or wouldn't" she augured because as dearly as Felicity loved Laurel she had excepted months ago that her Sister would not win against Hunt, at least not without fighting dirty. She had even been gearing up to offer to do the dirty work for her but thanks to The Hood that hadn't been necessary.

"I just think maybe he's a misguided hero instead of the villain you are making him out to be" she summed up softly.

"A misguided hero?" her Dad parroted back at her. "Sounds more like an avenging angel to me" he said "and vengeance angelic or not isn't justice, I thought you knew that Felicity"

"I do Dad, really do" Felicity insisted "I just think there has to be more to him than just vengeance" she explained.

"You're looking for the good in this guy, just like you do with Queen and Merlyn" Quentin sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"I guess I am" Felicity agreed "but let's not forget who taught me to do that" she grinned at him.

Quentin sighed again he was still frustrated but he knew she was right, he had always encouraged her to look for the best in the worst situations now it was coming back to bite him. "Just promise me you won't go looking for this guy, he is not the city's guardian angel, I know that's what you want to believe but he's not"

"I promise Dad, no Hood hunting" Felicity agreed without hesitation, she may be an optimist but she was not and optimistic fool. She was not about to start stalking the city's very own Robin Hood just on the off chance he really was the good guy she hoped he was.

"Good" Quentin smiled before opening his arms wide "now get over here" Felicity was hugging him before he had even finished speaking. "I love you sweetheart" he told her sincerely.

"I love you too Dad" she replied hugging him even tighter

"You stay safe" he ordered as he kissed her forehead and let her go.

Felicity just nodded and stepped away from the car so that he could get in; she waved as he began to pull off. "Don't forget to board that window" he called back. He could see her rolling her eyes at him but he also heard her call out that she wouldn't forget so that was enough for him.

Returning to her tiny apartment Felicity immediately headed to the bathroom. She had every intention of taking care of the window right way, for her Fathers peace of mind if nothing else but she was shocked to find she didn't need to. The window that had easily swung open just minutes ago was now pinned shut from the outside but that wasn't what shocked her. No what shocked her was that it had been pinned shut by three precisely placed arrows, green arrows at that.

Dropping her DIY supplies, she raced out into the main room of her apartment and flew to its large window. She searched every rooftop that she could see but of course there was no one there. The thought of calling her Father briefly flittered through her mind but she knew that would just result in him insisting on taking her home with him and she didn't really want that. She knew she should be scared the city's newest criminal apparently knew where she lived but she didn't feel scared she felt protected. Maybe her Dad was right, The Hooded Man wasn't Starling city's guardian angel but he might just be Felicity's.

From a safe distance away, hidden beneath his hood Oliver watched Felicity smile out into the darkness, the sight of her safe and happy warmed his heart. He promised himself that one day he would tell her everything but for now he would content himself with keeping both her and the city safe. He had a list of the most evil men and women that Starling had to offer and he was going to make them wish they had set up shop in a different city.

As soon as Felicity had moved away from her window he allowed himself to melt away into the shadows. He had a job to do; he had a city to save and promises to keep. He wasn't going to fail his city or the people he loved. Every name on his list was going to pay for what they had done he would see to it.

AN 2 **:** Hey again guys, so that is episode one done and dusted. I just wanted to let you know how I'm going to proceed with posting this story. As you may have noticed if you have read any of my other stories I have a really bad habit, I tend to get a story all written up in a note pad then I lose interest in it and end up giving up on it before I have typed or posted it. So I am taking a different approach with this one, I have it all planned out but I am writing and posting it an episode at a time. That means I am going to go away for a few weeks to write the next episode then I will come back and post it before going away to write more again. I'm sorry about any particularly long gaps but I'm hoping that doing things this way will mean I actually finish a story for once.

Thank for reading, I would love to know what you think.

See you soon

Millie xXx


	7. Honour thy Father part 1

**The other Lance girl**

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: Hi everyone, have been gone for what feels like ages. My mum's lap got a virus and seen as that's the computer I write on I was kind of stuck. On the bright side I have loads of this story prewritten so at least I shouldn't be gone for so long again

Chapter 6

Honour thy Father part 1

Oliver had been back in starling city for just over a week but legally he was still dead. He would not be fully resurrected in the eyes of the law until a judge said so. That was why Felicity found herself sitting in a court room for the first time in her life.

A lot of people assumed that with a cop for a Father, a lawyer for a Sister and a couple of trouble making millionaires for best friends she would be in and out of court rooms all the time but that really wasn't true.

As much as Felicity loved her family she had never particularly wanted to see them in action and as for Oliver and Tommy, she had made it clear to them the first time they got themselves in trouble that she was not going to stand by them when they were in the wrong. She may not have been to court before but she knew how important perceptions could be for a case and having a local detective's daughter on their side could sway things in their favour. While Felicity always wanted to help her friends she also thought that justice should always be served even if it was against those she wanted to protect.

Felicity had managed to avoid court rooms pretty well right up until Oliver landed himself in one without actually breaking the law. Sitting there with Tommy's arm wrapped around her for both moral and physical support she hated every moment of her first court experience.

To his credit Oliver never once mentioned Sara's name but listening to him recount what he had gone through Felicity couldn't help but picture her Sister suffering the same fate only she didn't get rescued at the end of the story like Oliver did.

Now she understood why both her Dad and Laurel were too busy to come with her. They had warned her she wasn't going to like what she heard but Felicity hadn't believed it would be as bad as it was.

As soon as Oliver was declared alive Tommy was up and pulling Felicity out of the room. He didn't wait to see if Moira and Walter were coming too, he didn't even stop to congratulate Oliver and his lawyer all that mattered was the woman who had spent the last hour sat beside him trying valiantly not to cry.

Once they were out of the imposing room and he was sure there was no press around Tommy pulled Felicity into his arms and she finally gave in to her emotions, with a huge sob she buried her head in his shoulder.

"Your OK" Tommy soothed rubbing her back "I'm here, I've got you, your OK"

"No I'm not" Felicity sighed as she pulled away from him "I'm crying again, I hate crying and it is all I seem to do lately" she spat more angry at herself than anyone else.

"Oh Princess" Tommy chuckled as his stubborn friend wiped her tears away "I the last week you had your best friend come back from the dead, got confirmation that you baby sister isn't going to come back like I know you always secretly hoped she would. Got in a fight with your big Sister over your retuning best friend, got kidnapped, got shot and only then did you and Laurel make up. If anyone has a good reason to come over all emotional it's you"

Felicity gave a slightly hollow laugh she couldn't help but sort of love that while he was trying to cheer her up Tommy somehow made her life sound like a soap opera.

"Thanks Tommy" she said giving him a small but genuine smile.

"That's my girl" he smiled back giving her one more tight hug before Oliver and his family joined them.

"Are you OK Felicity?" were the first words out of the newly resurrected millionaire's mouth.

"I'm better than I was" she assured him with the biggest smile she could manage, given the situation it wasn't exactly huge but Oliver appreciated the effort.

"Well now that is all done with, onto the company" Moira announced as she led the way down the court house stairs. Felicity was sure the older woman had more to say but Oliver didn't give her the chance to continue.

"Actually Mom that was heavier than I expected it to be" he admitted "can we do the company another day?" he asked?

"Of course Sweetheart" Moira assured him in what Felicity and Thea called her I don't like this but I'm going to let it go voice. "Queen consolidated isn't going anywhere" she concluded. To anyone else that would have sounded like a reassurance but Oliver, Tommy and Felicity knew her well enough to understand that what she was really saying was "You can't run from this forever".

Moira and Walter moved away quickly leaving the three youngsters behind.

"Last week you couldn't wait to get to work" Tommy reminded Oliver.

"Yeah" Felicity agreed "what's changed?" she asked. Truthfully it didn't really matter to her as long as Oliver was happy, that was the most important thing but it was nice for her not having all of her work mates knowing that she practically grew up with the heir to the company.

She wasn't sure how she had kept such a low profile for so long but she knew as soon as Oliver stepped foot in the building any and all anonymity she had would be gone.

"Last week I wasn't thinking clearly" Oliver told them as he followed his mother's path down the stairs "and right now lunch with my two best friends is sounding pretty good" he said shooting them a charming grin.

It sounded good to Felicity too but unfortunately she never did things by half's. This morning may have been her first time in a court room but it wasn't going to be her last, in one day she was going from never to twice. She was helping Laurel on a CNRI case and she was due to meet her in just a few minutes.

"Oh I wish I could come Oliver but I actually have plans with LAUREL" the last word of her sentence was both explanation and greeting because at that moment her sister came marching around the corner. She was flanked by her co worker Joanna and a pretty but stressed looking blond that Felicity knew to be her client Emily Nocenti. Laurel froze so quickly that Joanna and Emily nearly slammed into the back of her.

"Oh boy" Felicity muttered "this just got just got awkward". She had really thought that Oliver and Tommy would be gone before Laurel turned up but clearly she was wrong.

"Laurel" Oliver gazed at the beautiful brunette "what are you doing here?" he sounded genuinely surprised. Both Tommy and Felicity shared an exasperated look, she was a lawyer what did he think she was doing here.

"My job" Laurel told him coolly not even glancing at the others with him. The tension between the two exes' was so thick that Felicity thought she would scream if someone didn't break it.

Thank goodness for Joanna. "Hi" she grinned reaching across Laurel to shake Oliver's hand "I'm Joanna De La Vega, I work with Laurel" she introduced herself.

"Oliver Queen" Oliver said retuning the introduction.

"I know who you are" she assured him before also introducing Emily, while Oliver shook the blonds hand Laurel apparently decided that exchanging names wasn't enough of an introduction for Oliver and Emily.

"Oliver is my Ex boyfriend" she explained "He is also a cheating scumbag who was sleeping with my Sister before getting her killed in a ship wreck that he somehow survived" she spat.

Suddenly everything was awkward again, this time it was Tommy who came to everyone's rescue. "Hey" he smiled reaching out to shake Emily's hand just like Oliver had "Tommy Merlin, I'm the scumbag's best friend" he said by way of introduction making Emily laugh.

Felicity figured what works for the gander is good for the goose or something like that so she followed suit.

"Felicity Lance" she grinned also shaking Emily's hand "the scumbag's other best friend and Laurel's other sister" Emily did laugh again but she also looked kind of wary too "I know it sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer but I promise it's not" she rushed on trying to put Emily at ease the way the boys had.

Behind her she heard Tommy mutter something that sounded distinctly like the word "yet". Felicity wanted to be cross with him but Emily looked far less like she wanted to bolt so the techno wiz kept quite.

"Felicity has actually been helping us with your case" Laurel said to Emily smiling in that calm professional way she usually did when she wasn't being blindsided by Oliver Queen. "She has been doing some research for us" she explained.

"Some" Joanna cut in "she's been doing all of it, none of our legal techs were brave enough to cyber snoop on Martin Sommers" it wasn't until she was done talking that the young lawyer realized what she had said.

She slapped her hand over her mouth but it was too late. Her statement wouldn't exactly fill Emily with confidence and worse yet it might scare Felicity away, leaving her and Laurel fighting an uphill battle all alone.

Thankfully both blonds surprised her, Emily looked sad but no more so than before and Felicity just gave her a reassuring smile.

"I haven't actually found anything of any use yet" she admitted "Sommers's encryptions have encryptions, but I promise if he has left so much as a crumb of cyber evidence I will find it" she swore.

The tiny IT expert sounded so sure of herself that for a moment Joanna couldn't help believe that despite all the difficulties they were facing Martin Sommers was going down. None of the woman noticed the worried looks clouding the faces of both of the men.

Tommy was full of concerned he had heard rumours about Martin Sommers and he didn't like the thought of the girls involving themselves in anything that could draw his attention.

Oliver was a little concerned but he was mostly angry. Martin Sommers's was on his list that meant he was dangerous. Since his return Oliver had learnt that Laurel prided herself on going after the worst of the worst that Starling had to offer. It didn't surprised him that some of those on his list were also on hers, what did surprise him was that she had bought Felicity into this.

Danger was a by product of Laurel's job, you strike out at bad guys they were going to strike back Laurel knew and expected that, Felicity didn't or at least she shouldn't. Her job didn't involve inherent danger.

True she had been tight lipped about where it actually was she worked and no one else would tell him either. All she would say was that she worked in IT.

"Felicity can I speak to you for a moment" he asked gently pulling her away from the group, the fact that Tommy followed them was a surprise but not an unpleasant one, Oliver was pretty sure the other man would have his back.

"Felicity are you sure this is a good idea?" Oliver asked as soon as they were out of ear shot of the others. "This Sommers guy sounds like a real piece of work; maybe you should stay out of this and leave chasing the bad guys to your Dad and Laurel"

Felicity was shocked by Oliver's suggestion but Tommy cut in before she could say anything. "Oliver's right Princess" he said softly "Martin Sommers is not the type of person you want after you"

"Are you both kidding me right now" Felicity hissed at her friends "Martin Sommers is a dangerous man so I should not help take him off the streets, how does that make any sense?" she glared at them.

"He needs to be off the streets" Tommy agreed "but you can't be the one to do it Felicity, it's too dangerous" he insisted.

Felicity had had enough of this, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, she spun on her heels to head back to the other women but Tommy wouldn't let her. "You could end up dead" he hissed holding on to her arm so she couldn't run away from them.

"Emily's Father is dead" she snapped snatching her arm from Tommy grasp "He found out what Sommers was doing and he was going to be the man to stop it but now he can't because he is dead, Sommers had him killed"

Her furious statement froze both of her friends to the spot "we have suffered losses, everyone of us has lost someone that we loved" she said far more calmly "and we all know they are never coming back but we at least we know what happened to them and where there could be justice there was, Emily doesn't have that. How can you ask me not to help her get it?" she sounds genuinely bemused.

After a moment of silence Felicity gave them each one of her most disappointed looks, before rejoining Laurel, Joanna and Emily.

"We are so in the dog house" Tommy sighed as he watched all four women disappear behind a huge set of wooden doors.

"We were just trying to keep her safe" Oliver countered as he led the way outside.

"I Know that, you know that and deep down I think even Felicity knows that but she won't back down she just so stubborn, she is probably more determined to help than ever" Tommy said with a weary shake of his head "what are we going to do?" he asked sounding really worried.

Oliver knew exactly what he was going to do but Tommy couldn't know that. Luckily he had more than one plan. "I have an idea" he said softly "it will make her safer but she is going to be even madder at us than she already is" he admitted.

"We are going to tell her Dad aren't we" Tommy guessed.

"Yes we are" Oliver agreed with a nod of his head, Tommy knew him well but not as well as he thought. Yes he was going to rat Felicity out to her Dad as if they were still the kids they had once been but he was also going to hood up and scare the living daylights out of Sommers. He would get the man to admit to every crime he had ever committed.

Oliver left Tommy to make the call to Detective Lance while he headed to the car he that he knew would be waiting for him. Honestly he felt a little bad for ditching Diggle yet again but Martin Sommers had a date with the Hood and Oliver would hate to be late.

 _More to come soon thanks for reading and let me know what you think._

 _Millie xXx_


	8. Honour thy Father part 2

**The other Lance girl**

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: I don't really have much to say this time round other than I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I do.

Chapter 7

Honour thy Father part 2

Felicity Lance usually prided herself on being a good person but every now and again there were times she wished she wasn't so good, today was becoming one of those days.

She had spent most of her day cooped up in the court house because good people support their friends when they came back from the dead, good people also help to stop bad people they can and armed with a computer Felicity could stop anyone good or bad.

Now she was walking into a restaurant that always felt just a little too up market for her because good people don't let their 17 year old best friend down just because they have had a hard day.

Felicity had promised to have lunch with Thea mouths ago and the reservation had been made weeks in advance, with everything that had suddenly come up for Felicity Thea had offered to turn lunch into dinner but she hadn't offered to cancel all together.

How the younger woman managed to change their reservations at such short notice Felicity didn't know she could only assume it had something to do with Thea's last name being Queen.

"Hey" Thea greeted her with a bright smile and a hug but Felicity could already see the cracks in her friend's bubbly facade. Oliver coming back was a wonderful thing but him coming back so different was hard for those who loved him.

The media didn't see seem to see it, neither did people like Laurel and her Dad but Felicity could see all of the changes that Oliver was trying so hard to hide and she knew Thea could too.

The teenager had claimed she didn't care if Oliver came back different so long as he came back and Felicity knew back then the girl had meant it but accepting and idea and dealing with a reality were two very different things. Felicity had a horrible feeling that Thea was not coping as well as she had thought she would and when Thea couldn't cope she made bad decisions, some so bad even Felicity couldn't save her from the consequences.

"How are you doing Thea?" the blond enquired as she took her seat.

"How am I doing?" Thea shot back "I'm not the one that just escaped from the halls of justice" she smirked "I think the better question is how are you doing Felicity?"

"I have had better days" Felicity admitted, listening to Oliver relive his suffering had been bad enough but then she had moved on to the Nocenti case and that was even worse.

Martin Sommers was cold and calculating he was like the creepiest chess player ever. Felicity had hoped to pass under his radar but she had no such luck. The man's Lawyer had demanded to know why she and not a legal tech was examining his client's files.

Felicity had had to stand up in court and list all of the reasons she was the best person for the job that Laurel had assigned her. She had convinced the judge but she had also caught the attention of Sommers. She hated the way his eye's seemed to crawl all over her; it freaked her out beyond words. Tommy and Oliver's warnings didn't help; they rang in her ears and served only to heighten her fear.

"Felicity are you sure you are OK?" Thea asked reaching for her friends hand; she didn't like the troubled look that had clouded the blonds face.

"Yeah I'm fine honestly Thea" Felicity tried the reassure the younger woman.

Thea just raised her eye brows in that way she always did when she knew what she was hearing was complete crap. There would have been a time when Felicity would have been able to lie to Thea to ensure the girl's peace of mind but that time was long gone. The two women had been though too much together and had gotten too close to lie to one another.

With a sigh Felicity gave in and told Thea everything, how much listening to Oliver testify had hurt, how angry she was with both him and Tommy for not understanding why she needed to Help Emily Nocenti no matter what the risk and just how creepy Martin Sommers really was.

"Oh Flick" Thea sighed softly, she wanted to comfort her friend, Felicity had always been so supportive of her and her mother over the years but comforting people didn't come as easily to Thea as it did Felicity.

Thea was saved from her floundering by the ringing of Felicity's phone. The blond glanced down at the screen before picking the tiny device up.

"Sorry Thea, it's my Dad" the "I've got to answer of he will freak out" went unsaid but Thea heard it anyway.

"Go ahead" the teen smiled almost glad that Detective Lance had picked that exact moment to check in with his daughter.

Thea usually enjoyed watching Felicity interact with people it always involved a lot of gestures and maybe some babbling too but this time it was different she was clearly trying to be discreet in her conversation with her Father, it wasn't really working out for her but she was trying and that wasn't like Felicity.

It only took Thea a moment to figure out why Quentin had called Felicity. He was clearly hauling her over the coals for getting involved in another one of Laurel's cases without telling him.

Felicity's IQ was off the charts but it didn't take a genius to figure out where her Dad had got his information, Thea would bet everything she owned (and that was a whole heck of a lot) that Oliver and Tommy had turned Felicity in for her own good.

Thea would also bet that it was all Oliver's idea. Tommy had gotten super protective of both Thea and Felicity during Oliver's absents but Tommy didn't do sneaky, he would never go behind Felicity's back he would have at least warned her first. Truth be to told it would be more of a threat than a warning but he still would have given it to her.

This whole situation stank of over protective Oliver. Thea wished her brother could see that instead of protecting Felicity what he was really doing was pushing her away. Maybe in some twisted way he thought the two were the same thing, she didn't know but what she did know was that if Oliver wasn't careful he would push her too far and lose her altogether.

Thea knew it was almost impossible to get Felicity to give up on someone she cared about but Oliver seemed determined to make her go. In the last week alone he had gotten her kidnapped, shot, broken her sisters heart for like the hundredth time and now he was getting her into a fight with her Father. Not to mention everything he had put the poor girl though before his "death". She had to wonder if Oliver even knew what it was he was actually doing to the girl he called his best friend.

Felicity finally hung up on her Dad and returned her attention to Thea "sorry Thea" she apologized "it seems my Dad and your Brother have finally found something to agree on" she sighed.

"Let me guess, they both want you to back off of the Sommers case" Thea asked with a tight smile.

"Apparently" Felicity sighed yet again.

Thea was starting to feel really bad for Felicity. She had so much on her plate right now, the last thing she needed was to be babysitting Thea because she was feeling overwhelmed. The young Queen suddenly realized she wasn't being fair to her friend.

"you know what Flick, lets order our food to go" she offered already planning not only another way to work though her feelings but also exactly what she was going to say to her bone head brother the next time she saw him.

"Are you sure?" Felicity checked, she could tell that Thea needed a friend right now but she also knew once Thea Queen made up her mind up very little could change it.

"Of course I'm sure" Thea grinned a little too brightly for Felicity's liking "now let's get you out of here Flick, you need some rest".

Felicity was reluctant to abandon Thea to deal with whatever it was she was going through alone but she could use the time to work on the Sommers files some more and Thea seemed so sure of herself. Maybe Laurel was right, with Oliver back perhaps she could let go of Thea a little bit and let her brother take over as her main support system. She would never know if she didn't try so with a deep breath and a somewhat tentative smile Felicity agreed with Thea's very thoughtful suggestion.

* * *

Walking home through the glades was never Felicity's first choice but she was not going to pay the crazy prices taxi's asked for at that time of night and she wouldn't let Thea and her driver bring even the Queen's nastiest car into her neighbourhood. So walking it was.

She was only one street away from home when she heard a scream. The source of the noise was not hard to find, a young blond girl and a much older man were fighting over a hand bag. The man used the girl's refusal to let go of her bag to drag her into a darkened alley and Felicity could not have stopped herself from intervening for a whole apple store.

She pulled out a small but high powered torch that her Father had insisted she carry and raced into the darkness.

The light was strong enough to illuminate almost the whole alley, in the glow Felicity could see the pair were still tussling over the woman's bag.

"Hey!" she yelled loudly and ran at the man "let her go" she ordered hitting him over the head as hard as she could with the bag of take out she was carrying.

Her attack had the desired effect; the man released the woman so that he could raise his arms to shield his head from any further blows.

"Run" Felicity shouted at the shocked woman she had just saved. "Go now" she tried again when the woman still didn't move, a firm shove in the right direction finally succeeded where words had failed and sent the woman flying out of the alley.

Felicity was now the sole focus of the man's attention and he was clearly not happy with her. He took a menacing step towards her but Felicity's reflexes were quicker than his. Her hand shot into her pocket and pulled out a micro can of mace, something else her Father had given to her.

She got a clear shot at the guy's eyes and he crumpled foreword almost immediately, obviously he was in a great deal of pain. Even though he was mostly blind due to the spray the angry man still stumbled towards Felicity.

Her next move to stop his forward momentum would have been a swift kick to his most sensitive area but she never got the chance. Just as she lifted her foot to deliver the blow a strange whistling sound filled the air.

The guy fell back against the alley wall with a cry of pain, Felicity could see exactly what caused it, sticking out of his shoulder was a green fletched arrow.

For a moment her heart froze in her chest, that arrow was just like the ones currently holding her bathroom window shut but they were also the same kind as of arrows that had killed some of Adam Hunt's men.

As much as she wanted to believe the hooded man wouldn't harm her she would be foolish to assume she knew his intentions when she hadn't even really met him before. She had barely been able to hold off the bag snatcher what chance would she stand against the scary ninja bowman in green.

Turning slowly Felicity expected to see him standing there in the mouth of the alley but he wasn't there. She looked around carefully but she couldn't see anyone but the terrified bag snatcher, he gave her a hateful look before rushing out of the alley and leaving her all alone.

Just as Felicity had decided her rescuer with the slightly questionable morals had probably moved on, she heard a soft thump behind her and tensed up. She was sure he was right behind her.

"You should be more careful Miss Lance" his heavily synthesized voice in her ear confirmed her suspicion was right.

Felicity spun quickly to face him, she kept the can of mace in her had but she hoped she wouldn't need to use it again tonight. "I had things under control" she assured him.

"I'm sure you did this time but what about next time?" the Hood questioned, his tone was hard to read under the synthesizer but she was pretty sure she was being lectured by him.

"There won't be a next time" she insisted crossing her arms stubbornly. "I'm not prone to heroics, I'll leave that to you" she said shooting him a grin in hopes of lightening the mood.

"I'm no hero Miss Lance and I won't always be there to save you" he snapped, he needed her to understand that as admirable as her actions were tonight, things might not have ended as well for her as they did.

Felicity furrowed her brow, he claimed he couldn't always save her but he already had twice, three times if you counted securing her apartment from intruders by pinning that window for her. Knowing he had been there made her feel safe but also slightly nervous, there was a nagging little voice at the back of her mind demanding to know why she trusted him so completely when most of what she knew of him told her she should be running for her life, not chatting with him.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked somewhat nervously.

"No" he assured her with a slight huff that she thought could be muffled laughter "I had business in the area".

"Busyness, like business" Felicity asked miming shooting an arrow to emphasise what she was asking.

"What other kind of business would I have?" he asked with an amused smile that Felicity could just make out in the shadow of his hood, now she knew he was laughing at her.

"Well you seem to be pretty into rescuing damsels in distress" she shot back. It took her brain a moment to catch up with what her mouth had just said but as soon as it did she started to back track. "Not that I'm a damsel in distress, well I may have been in distress last time but this time I was completely in control and I downright refuse to be classed as a damsel, ever" she explained in her own rambling way.

Now the hooded man was full out laughing at her, it sounded strange through the synthesizer but also kind of nice. Felicity wished she could see more of him but he was shrouded in darkness and somehow it had only just registered with her that she had dropped her torch when she went for the mace.

"Are you looking for this?" he asked holding up the dropped item when he noticed her eye's scanning the ground around her almost frantically.

Felicity nodded slowly before she re-pocketed her mace and reached out to take the light source. The Hood as he had begun to think of himself sighed softly; he wished she had not asked for it back just yet. He used the Darkness like a cloak without it the chances of Felicity recognising him rose drastically and he couldn't risk that, not yet.

He liked the way she was currently looking at him, like he was a hero, a hero she wasn't sure she could trust but a hero none the less. Oliver Queen had been many things in the eyes of Felicity Lance over the years but never a hero and he found he wanted to hold on to his new label- no matter how ill fitting it was- for as long as he could. One day she would know the truth about everything but he needed to wait until the time was right and until then he could be her hero.

"You are no damsel in distress Miss Lance" he agreed with her previous statement as he approached her "You are kind and bright and brave" he complemented her.

Slowly as not to scare her he reached out and took her hand, gently he laced his fingers with hers trapping the torch between their two palms. "But you must also be careful, there are some darkness's in this world that are too deep even for you to face. Leave the darkness to me" he requested softly.

Felicity stood frozen to the spot, she was holding hands with the most dangerous man in Starling city and he was talking as if he knew her not only did he know her he also knew how out of her depth she was when pitted against guys like Martin Sommers. Before she could fully formulate any questions let alone ask them he was gone.

"Good night Miss Lance" he muttered seconds before he released her hand and vanished into the night. Felicity heard the strange whistling once again, she now knew it must be the sound of an arrow slicing through the air. She spun in the direction he had gone but there was no sign of him.

"Good night" she called out after him.

Heaving a sigh and checking she still had her now most likely ruined dinner Felicity made her way home. She had no way of knowing that from a nearby roof top the hooded man was watching ever step she took to ensure she made it home safely. She also had no way of knowing that somewhere in a dockside warehouse a truly terrified Martin Sommers was planning to sign both her and her sister's death warrants.

* * *

 _More coming next weekend, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think_

 _Millie xXx_


	9. Honour thy Father part 3

**The other Lance girl**

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: Thank you for all the nice feedback guys, I hope you continue to enjoy this story as it is so much fun to write.

Chapter 8

Honour thy Father part 3

Thea had not been home for long before she heard Oliver coming in, she had had just enough to get herself all dressed up and stew a bit more over what her brother had done to her best friend but that was about it.

Thea loved her big brother more than anyone in the world, for so long she had looked up to him and idolized his every move. Maybe that was why his pushing her and everyone else away hurt so much. His actions made Thea angrier that she had been in years and when Thea Queen was hurt and angry she got spiteful. It was that spiteful streak that had her pointing out Oliver's every failing since he had returned home.

She knew he was trying to play the role of big brother like he was supposed to but right at that moment it felt like too little too late. Who was he to claim he knew what Dad would have wanted for her? Who was he to imply that he had wanted his family back when his every action had said otherwise?

"You have been home a week" she spat at him "and all you have done is avoid Mom, ignore Walter and judged me" She gave him her iciest glare. "Not to mention pushing away both the woman you claim to love and the one we all know you really care about".

The look of confusion that washed over Oliver face was so genuine that Thea wanted to point and laugh at him for being so clueless, instead she just rolled her eyes at him as if he were the most boring person in the world.

"Felicity" she almost yelled at him "your little stunt today -calling her Dad- if that's not pushing her, I don't know what is".

Oliver was clearly stunned by her accusation and for a moment he seemed speechless, Thea didn't plan on giving him time to collect himself, instead in her coldest tone yet she delivered her final verbal blow "Felicity is a smart girl, sooner or later she is going realize you don't deserve her and I hope I'm there to see it when she does" she spat.

Oliver looked devastated and Thea felt a surge of triumph at getting him to feel something other than disappointment, she gave him a self satisfied smirk and turned on her heels and strutted away determined to enjoy her night.

* * *

Thea's words had hit Oliver in a way he would not have expected. Being with Felicity tonight even for a short time he had almost forgotten she was mad at him. He didn't think what he and Tommy had done would be enough to push her away for good but he didn't want to take any risks. He had to fix things. He couldn't bear to lose her not when he had discovered she could bring light into the life of not just Oliver Queen but also the Hood, if he would just let her.

A lot of people assume that seeing having a cop turn up at your door means that something bad had happened, being a cop's daughter Felicity was not one of those people. Unless the cop in question was her Father's partner and he turned up at her work place that is, that always meant trouble of some kind or another.

So when Detective Hamilton marched into QC's IT department without her Father she was understandably very worried. Felicity was out of her seat before he had even reached her office door. "Where is my Dad? Is he OK" she demanded.

Hamilton actually chuckled at her panic "Your Dad's fine Felicity" he assured her "he is with Laurel right now"

"Why?" Felicity asked. As soon as her fear passed suspicion crept in, if Hamilton was standing in her office something was up.

"Because I promised him I could handle this without him, so do me a favour and don't make a liar out of me" he said by way of explanation.

"Lucas I really don't understand what is going on" Felicity rarely used detective Hamilton's first name, usually when she did she was demanding to know just how her Dad had gotten himself hurt this time and usually it worked.

"OK, give me a chance to explain and you will" he offered indicating for her to sit back down. Felicity took her seat so quickly that in other circumstances Hamilton might have laughed.

"Martin Sommers was attacked by the vigilante last night" he told her.

"Sommers as in the guy Laurel is going after, that Martin Sommers?" Felicity clarified

"That's right" Hamilton confirmed "and he was not pleased when your Dad and I turned up to investigate this morning"

Felicity sorted "I'm not surprised a visit from the hooded man is as good as an admission of guilt these days"

"That might be why he went as far as to make some very thinly veiled threats against your Father, Laurel and you" Hamilton told her gently.

"He did what now" Felicity went from concerned but easy going to seething mad in a split second. This time Hamilton could not fight down his chuckle but he hid it as best he could. He was willing to bet that the threat against herself hadn't even registered with Felicity yet, she was too focused on the thought that someone would dare to try and hurt the people she loved.

"Calm down Sparky" he warned her softly "no one is going to hurt Laurel or your Dad, not on my watch and they are not going to hurt you either" he promised Felicity with a smile.

Lucas Hamilton was pretty much an honour Lance and the closest thing Felicity would ever have to an uncle, unless her biological aunt back in Vegas ever got around to marring one of her many beaus but that was beside the point.

"So Laurel's endless crusade for justice has finally gotten her the death threats we all knew were coming one day so what is our next move?" Felicity asked once she had her thought process back on track. There was no malice or anger in her tone just grudging acceptance.

"This is the bit you are really going to hate" Hamilton admitted as he opened the office door to let a young officer in, that's when everything clicked.

"Oh no, no, no, no" the feisty blond hissed in quiet protest "I don't need protective custody" she assured both men but neither one of them looked convinced.

"Felicity your Dad just wants you to be safe, it just a precaution but I agree that it's a necessary one" Hamilton told her firmly.

"But- but- but" Felicity stuttered trying to find a valid protest. "Have you seen the name on my office door" she finally settled on what she thought could be a winning argument. "it says F Smoak not Lance Smoak, if anyone was looking for Felicity Lance this is the last place they would ever look and besides how can Felicity Smoak explain why she is being followed around by a Cop, what am I supposed to tell people when they ask?" she asked.

"That's up to you" the detective told the stubborn young woman "but the protective custody is not, officer Winters is going to shadow you until this all blows over and you are not going to lose him are we clear?" he said using what his own daughter called his laying down the law voice

Felicity just nodded in what appeared to be defeat but Hamilton wasn't buying it. "Keep a close eye on this one" he whispered to Winters on his way out the door "she is a certified genius and she grew up with Oliver Queen if anyone can lose you it's her"

After shutting the office door Lucas took a moment to just stop and look at it. It clearly read F Smoak just like the girl inside had insisted it did. Hamilton knew all about Felicity wanting to work under her birth name instead of her adoptive one, he understood her reasons even if he like her own Father didn't agree with them.

Over the years the name Lance had become synonymous with both Queen and Merlyn partly for the doomed romance between Laurel and Oliver but mostly because of the families friendship with both boys. Laurel and Sara had been part of their circle ever since Laurel had met the boys in pre-school and there had been a time when Quentin would have gone to bat for either of them but Felicity had become their best friend before she even joined the Lance family.

There had been a time before Oliver disappeared that the middle Lance child had become as well known as the play boy millionaires themselves. She had obviously been considered the good one of the group and she had not revelled in her notoriety the way Queen and Merlyn had but she most definitely had it.

After Oliver Queen had been lost at sea and Tommy Merlyn toned down his partying some Felicity Lance had faded from the public consciousness so much so that no one seemed to recognise her when she started at QC with a different hair colour and a different last name. Her simple disguise had worked well for almost three years but surely she couldn't expect it to last particularly not with Queen back in starling city.

Hamilton understood Felicity had felt the need to prove she was worthy of her job and she had not been given it just because of who she was but he truly didn't believe that she was going to be able to hold on to her anonymity for much longer.

Back in the small brightly colourer office Officer Winters was hovering near the door looking so out of place that Felicity couldn't help but feel sorry for him. If he was going to carry on like this he was going to make things much harder than they needed to be for both of them.

"Hey Winters, you can take a seat you know" she said offering the clearly nervous young man a tight smile.

"Oh, Err- thank you" he stuttered slightly before perching on the chair she had pointed to.

"Your welcome" Felicity said with a more genuine smile, Winters was actually kind of cute with his big green eyes and his floppy brown hair. His demeanour suggested that her Father or Lucas or both of them had given him a stern talking to before he came over here. The poor guy was probably more scared of the two detectives than he was of who could be coming after her. That would probably change if she told him she thought she thought Sommers was working with the Chinese triad.

She had found something in the man's files last night but she wasn't sure if it was enough to be classed as proof and even if it was she didn't know if it would be admissible in court due to the fact that Felicity hadn't exactly obtained it legally.

She needed to see Laurel tonight without the watchful eyes of the law, that was the real reason she was so resistant to the idea of protective custody.

"Miss Lance" Winters voice cut through her internal debate about whether to pull an Oliver or not. "I just want to assure you that I will do all I can to both stay out of your way and keep you safe" he said with a smile "I'm sure an extra shadow is the last thing you need"

"Thanks Winters I appreciate that" Felicity said truly meaning it "and you can call me Felicity if you like" she offered.

"OK Felicity" he agreed with an all out grin "I'm James" he told her, offering her his hand as if they had just met.

"Nice to meet you James" Felicity smiled back as she shook his hand. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and she was going to hate herself ditching him later on but she knew it had to be done.

The sooner she helped Laurel to put Sommers away the sooner this would all be over and she could get back to her almost normal life.

* * *

Thanks for reading. There is more to come, it will be up soon. Please continue to let me know what you think.

Thanks again Millie


	10. Honour thy Father part 4

**The other Lance girl**

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: Thank you for all the nice feedback guys, I hope you continue to enjoy this story as it is so much fun to write. Just a word of warning there is some sad talk during the flashback in this chapter. It is a discussion about loss, how it feels and how some people cope with it. I don't personally feel that it gets too sad but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up any way.

Chapter 9

Honour thy Father part 4

Thea Queen was not a girl that was plagued by her conscience often but when that sucker raised it head it struck with a vengeance. Guilt had been sitting heavy in her gut for the last few hours and she just couldn't take it anymore. She had been beyond horrible to Oliver the other night and she needed to fix it. She didn't think just saying sorry would be enough but she had to start somewhere.

When she walked into her brothers room without knocking Thea had been ready to all but beg for Oliver's forgiveness, instead they almost ended up in another fight.

Oliver was covered in scars, someone had given them to him, someone had hurt him badly but he wouldn't open up to her. He refused to let her in and that like almost everything else he had done since coming home hurt.

Thea wanted to scream and storm away but she didn't, she needed to get through to her brother and tantruming like a child was not going to do it so with a deep breath she tried something else.

She took Oliver out back to the place she had long ago claimed as her own. A beautiful stretch of green that held two head stones, each one marking an empty grave, one for him and one for their father.

She told him about talking to his grave, how he had comforted her when no one else could, about how she had begged him to come home and how much it hurt now that he was. He was here with them but she had felt closer to him when she had believed him dead.

"Look I know it was hell where you were" she told him "But it was hell here too and I never would have made it through if I didn't open up to someone, so you have got to let me in Ollie. Please if not me them someone, anyone, just don't keep it all locked inside, please" she pleaded with him. This wasn't about him telling her his secrets; it was about him finding a way to do more than just survive, she needed him to see that.

"Who did you let in?" Oliver asked softly even though he was pretty sure he knew the answer already.

"Felicity" Thea said confirming his suspicion "Only I didn't let her in, not really. It was more like she forced her way in and refused to leave" she explained with a mirthless laugh.

***FLASHBACK***

Thea Queen was only twelve years old but she was pretty sure her life was over. It ended with the death of her Father and Brother.

Her once happy home that had been so full of life and laughter was getting quieter and quieter as the moths passed. Thea's whole world was crumbling in on her, there was nothing she could do and no one seemed to care, not even her own Mother.

There was only one place Thea found comfort these days and that was with her Brother and her Father she sat huddled between their grave stones and talked to them until her mouth was dry and her throat hurt. It was a cold and often lonely place to spend her days but she didn't want to be anywhere else.

"Thea" a familiar voice called out to her. She looked back towards the house and saw her Brothers best friend Felicity. For a long time Thea had thought of Felicity as one of her best friends too but she had been Oliver's first and that thought made Thea's heart hurt.

Felicity was carrying a coat in one hand and a thermal flask in the other. "Your Mom told me I'd find you out here" she said holding both items out to Thea. "It kind of chilly out so I have a winter coat and hot Coco" she explained.

She handed to coat to Thea and opened up the flask. "Personally I would have preferred Coffee but your Mother said you're _not quite old enough for that yet_ " Felicity ended her stamen with an almost perfect impression of her Mom, it was so good in fact that it normally would have gotten al laugh out of Thea but she hadn't laughed in months and she didn't think that would change any time soon.

Thea slipped the coat on while Felicity poured the Coco into two mugs she had pulled out of the pockets of her own coat. "You Mom said you come up here a lot" she comment as she handed one of the mugs to Thea before settling down beside her on the damp ground.

The wind rustled Felicity's soft brown hair and Thea was hit by a sudden memory of her and Felicity's younger sister Sara trying to convince the girl to dye it blond. That had only been days before the gambit went down. That was why Thea tried so hard to avoid people, people came with memories and memories hurt.

"I'm surprised Mom even noticed I had left the house" Thea told Felicity she wasn't being dramatic she genuinely meant it, she didn't think anything registered with her Mom anymore she was too lost in her own sadness to notice anyone or anything else.

"She notices more than you think she does Thea" Felicity assured the younger woman. "She cares about you and worries about you more than you could possibly know, she just not able to act on it right now, not the way she normally would anyway. Grief does strange things to people, sometimes it turns them into someone you never thought they could be" she explained softly

"Well that's so comforting" Thea snapped catching the warm cup to her chest "not only are Ollie and my Dad dead but now my Mom is turning into someone I don't even know, your real good at these pep talks Flick, did you know that?" she spat at the older girl.

"I'm not here to give you a pep talk Thea" Felicity told her sadly "I'm here to tell you some things, you're not going to want to hear them but they are important" she said. Felicity's tone was apologetic but determined and for the first time in a long time Thea found herself really listening to what someone had to say.

"I have been where you are Thea" Felicity began softly and Thea had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Right now you are hurting and you feel like the whole world is lying to you" Felicity continued completely ignoring Thea's blatant look of disbelief.

"Everyone is telling you that the way you're feeling right now will pass. They're telling you things will get better with time but you know the more time that passes the more you will miss your Dad and Oliver. You know in your heart of hearts things won't get better they'll get worse. You can't imagine how your life will ever be good again, so everyone must be lying and you want nothing more than for them all to just stop and let you be sad for a while"

Thea was shocked, Felicity actually sounded like she knew what she was talking about but that was impossible. Felicity was a Lance and the Lance's were perfect and happy and losing Sara was the first bad thing to ever happen to them, so how could Felicity possibility understand what Thea was going through.

"What would you know about how I'm feeling?" Thea snapped angrily at Felicity hoping it would scare the girl away like it had her other friends.

"You would be surprised" Felicity sighed sadly "Did Oliver ever tell you that I wasn't always a Lance?" she enquired softly. Thea just shook her head in shock.

"You were only a year old when I moved here, you don't remember me ever not being around but Starling city was not always my home. I had a whole other life and I have been through more than you would ever expect" she explained with a watery smile.

"What are you talking about?" Thea demanded falling back in to angry mode; it seemed to be her default setting these days. Part of her was still hoping that she could drive Felicity away but the girl just carried on talking in that soft sad tone that Thea was starting to hate.

"For the first nine years of my life I lived in Las Vegas and my name was Felicity Smoak, I didn't come here until the Lance's adopted me".

"Why didn't I know this already? Why did no one ever tell me" Thea asked felling shocked.

"Probably because I normally don't like to talk about my life before Starling and I guess everyone figured it wasn't their place to tell you, it's mine" Felicity sighed.

"And are you going to tell me?" Thea asked she knew she was asking a lot and Felicity could refuse to answer but she couldn't keep herself from asking.

"My Mom died in a car accident just after my ninth Birthday, my Dad had left us years ago and no one knew where he had gone" Felicity said, she was struggling with her words but not in the way she normally did. Usually with Felicity it seemed like too many words wanted to come out at once but now she was fighting to get each one out.

"My Aunt was barely out of her teens and could only just look after herself so there was no way she could take care of me" she swallowed and Thea knew this was genuinely hard for Felicity to talk about but she was doing it for her and that made Thea feel loved in a way she hadn't for moths.

"It looked like I was going to end up in care but then Quentin Lance came to my rescue" Felicity smiled slightly at the mention of her Dad. "He and my Mom grew up together and I had spent some time with his family a few years before, so he swooped in and saved me. It took a few mouths for everything to become legal but as far as he was concerned I was a Lance as soon as I set foot in their house. I should have been grateful, I knew that but I was just so mad at everyone. It took me a while to realize just how lucky I was to have the Lance's, so believe me when I say I know what you are going through and remember that you and your Mom are not the only once going through it" she said sadly.

Thea was suddenly reminded that Oliver and her Dad were not the only people that had been on the gambit when it sailed. There had been a crew of men whose families were in mourning too. Felicity had lost her Sister and she was still sitting there trying to help her. A rush of guilt filled the girl and that was the final emotion that broke Thea's dam, she just couldn't keep them all in any more.

She hadn't cried since the funerals but she was now, with huge gasping sobs she just let go. It felt good to finally give into her emotions. It felt even better when Felicity wrapped her arms around her and let the pre-teen cry in her shoulder.

Thea told Felicity everything that cold afternoon sat on the soggy ground. She poured out her every thought and feeling and Felicity never judged she just held her and listened.

It wasn't until Thea had cried herself out that Felicity spoke again "I know you are probably sick of hearing this but the world isn't lying to you things really will get better. Not any time soon I'm afraid but one day you will be surprised to find it doesn't hurt as much as it once did" she confided in the young girl.

"Thank you Felicity" Thea said and for the first time in a long time she meant it "and I'm sorry for your losses, all of them" she added quickly.

"Thank you Thea" Felicity smiled softly and gave her one last warm hug. "If you ever need someone to talk or hang out or anything else remember I'm here for you, just call and I'll be there I promise" she assured her young friend.

A lot of people had broken a lot of promises to Thea lately and she didn't put much stock in that word anymore but she couldn't help but believe that Felicity truly meant to keep hers

***END FLASHBACK***

"I know it's not always easy to share Ollie" Thea assured her brother "particularly when you think what you are going to say is going to change the way people see you" she said with a shaky smile "but I promise you Oliver nothing you could ever tell me could make me love you any less, your my Brother and nothing will ever change that" she swore

"Thea" Oliver sighed he knew what his Sister was trying to do, she wanted to be there for him and he appreciated it but he could never tell her about the five years he was away. She thought she could handle it but he knew she couldn't. She could never know what a monster he had become, she would never forgive him the things he had done, no decent person would.

"I get it" Thea cut in "to you I will always be the twelve year old you left behind and there is no way she could bear to hear about what you have been through over the last few years" there was the tiniest trace of bitterness in her tone but Oliver couldn't blame her for that. "I can't be the person you need" she continued astounding Oliver with her insight "but you do need someone, Please Oliver you have to let someone in before your secrets eat you up inside" she was almost begging him and Oliver couldn't help but cave.

"OK" he sighed "I will find someone I can talk to" he agreed.

"I can recommend Felicity from experience" she offered in a slightly lighter tone "she's the best"

"Yeah she is but we both know I don't deserve her and it's only a matter of time before she figures that out" he says tossing Thea's own world back at her.

"I shouldn't have said that" she admitted regretfully "I was hurt and angry and it was mean of me to throw something like that in your face"

"Your right, it was mean" Oliver agreed "but you were also right, I don't deserve Felicity, I'm never going to and it is only a matter of time before she realizes it" he finished in an almost bitter tone.

"Hey don't talk like that" Thea scolded him softly. "So what if you don't deserve Felicity, neither do I but that doesn't change the fact she has chosen to keep us in her life even when it would have been easier for her to just let us go. The way I see it you can either fight as hard to stay with her as she has to keep you or you can make a clean break and walk away but you can't keep pushing and pulling her, it's not fair". Oliver hated to admit but Thea was right.

"OK" he sighed "so how do I fight to keep my best friend when she and her family have every reason to hate me?" he asked.

"You've just got to rebuild some of bridges that you burnt that's all" Thea told him encouragingly.

"Oh is that all" Oliver couldn't help but laugh "you do remember we are talking about the Lance's right, they could kill me and the SCPD would cover it up for them"

"My advice would be to start with Laurel" Thea told her Brother linking arms with him as they began to make their way back to the house, she was glad the previously sombre mood seemed to be lifting.

"She is far more forgiving than her Dad and much less likely to kill you" the brunet made her stamen sound more like a matter of fact than just her opinion. "Plus that way the two of you can work through all that messy sexual tension you have got going on and move on to the people that you were always meant to been with from the start" Thea was sounding far too worldly for Oliver's liking.

"I don't want to know how you know this stuff do I?" he questioned

"Probably not" Thea agreed with a bright, genuine smile "but seriously Ollie you have got to fix this" she added sternly "I hate seeing my two favourite people so sad" she admitted softly.

"I'll do what I can" Oliver promised and just like with Felicity all those years ago Thea was sure he meant to keep it.

* * *

Fun fact: this story has been almost three years in the making at this point and the seine between Felicity and young Thea was what started it all. That idea popped into my mind as I walked home from work one day, my walk is 2.5 miles so I had plenty of time to think about it and by the time I had reached home the other Lance girl was mostly all planned out in my head. So there you go now.

Thanks for reading, I would love to know what you think and I will be posting more next weekend.

Thanks again Millie xXx


	11. Honour thy Father part 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN 1: hey guys, merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it, if you don't I hope life is treating you well and your happy. In fact, I wish that for everyone all year round. Thank you for the feedback I have gotten on this story I look forward to hearing anything else you might have to say

Chapter 10

Honour thy Father part 5

Oliver Queen would be the first to admit that he was no genius but he was proud to say he did know one thing that few others in Starling City did. The quickest way to a Lance girl's heart was through the use of ice cream and puppy dog eyes, every one of them had let him off the hook over something or other thanks to that combination.

As he knocked on Laurel's door Oliver hoped that his secret weapons still worked. As much as he hated to admit it Thea was right, if he wanted to keep Felicity in his life he was going to have to make himself at least a little less abhorrent to her family.

Oliver thought he had planned for every reaction that Laurel might have to finding him at her door but the one thing he didn't plan for was that it might not be Laurel that answered. The sight of Felicity stood in Laurel's doorway shocked him into momentary silence and for once it seemed she didn't seem to have anything to say either, she just stood there waiting for him to speak.

"Hey" Laurel called from inside "did Winters find you already?" she asked joining Felicity in the doorway. The smile she had been wearing fell away when she saw Oliver stood there with her sister.

"Winters?" Oliver asked, ignoring Laure's arrival in favour of questioning Felicity.

"My police trained baby sitter" she explained quickly.

"The cop car outside is for you?" he asked feeling foolish for not thinking about it when he saw them down stairs.

"Actually that's for Laurel" Felicity said sounding slightly guilty "I don't know where mine is right now, I kind of gave him the slip" she admitted "and I should probably go find him before Dad either kills or fires him" she added as she grabbed her coat from the hook behind Laurels door.

"I hope those files help Laurel" she smiled warmly at her sister "Oliver, good luck with whatever your plan is tonight" she wished him with a smile so tight it almost looked painful. Before either Oliver or Laurel could say anything to her Felicity had stepped around Oliver and was hurrying down the hallway.

"would you give me just one minute?" Oliver asked Laurel before pushing the ice cream he had bought into her hands and rushing after Felicity. "Felicity wait!" he called running after his friend.

"What Oliver" she spun to face him "I am trying to be mad at you, I have every right to be mad at you and you know it" she sighed. "Wanting to protect me is one thing but going to my Dad behind my back is another, what are you Oliver 5 years old?"

"I know I messed up Felicity" Oliver told her "and you do have every right to be mad at me" he agreed "I was never good with people before all this" he tried to explain but he was interrupted by Felicity's snort of disbelief.

"OK fine" Oliver sighed running a hand through his hair "I was never very good with people that didn't just fall for my play boy charms" he clarified, he waited for Felicity nodded her approval before continuing. "Now I feel like I am starting from scratch, even with people like you and Tommy".

Felicity was completely stunned. Oliver had clearly come looking for Laurel tonight so why was he confiding in her?

"Everyone wants the old Ollie back and I'm not him anymore" he said sadly.

"I know you're not" Felicity said gently moving closer to him and she did know, hadn't she said as much just last week after his big welcome home party. "Oliver not everyone wants the old Ollie back, Thea and Tommy and I don't, we just want you, whoever you are now here with us. If you ever want to know who you really are you can't keep pushing everyone who loves you away, those people are part of who you are and without them you are never going to work out who you are" she explained softly.

"Thank you Felicity" Oliver wasn't sure what exactly he was tanking her for, still being there for him when he was being a jerk, letting him back in so easily when she had every right to make him work for her forgiveness or just being a brilliant friend to both him and his sister but he knew he owed her one.

"Your welcome" she smiled at him "now I really do need to go and find Winters and you need to go do whatever with Laurel" she said waving her hand in the direction of her sister's apartment.

For reasons he really didn't want to examine Oliver hated the idea of Felicity thinking he was out to woo Laurel. So he caught hold of her arm and pulled her into a tight hug.

"The only things I want from Laurel are forgiveness, friendship and some advice" he assured his friend "whatever we once had is gone Felicity and it won't come back" he swore.

"You say that now" Felicity sighed into his chest "but for as long as I can remember it's always been Oliver and Laurel, Laurel and Oliver, things like that don't just go way" she told him.

As much as she wished her sister and her best friend could see just how toxic their relationship was Felicity hated the thought of being the one to point it out and end their " _happiness"_ (because they really did seem to believe themselves to be happy in their relationship) even more. So until one of them decided to make a clean break she was going to be as supportive of them as her misgivings would allow her to be.

"Maybe it doesn't go way" Oliver admitted slowly letting Felicity out of his embrace "but it can change" he told her brushing some of her blond hair behind her ear. "Laurel is always going to be part of me, I spent half my life believing I loved her more than anyone but that time is gone now, besides I'm pretty sure it's Laurel and Tommy, Tommy and Laurel now".

"You know about that?" Felicity gasped, she had been dreading being there when Oliver found out that Tommy and Laurel were falling for each other but it seemed not only did he already know but he was also OK with it.

"I'm not blind Felicity" Oliver said with a familiar chuckle, oddly Felicity didn't remember hearing Oliver chuckle before but she knew that she had heard that raspy little laugh somewhere before so it must have been from him.

"And your OK with them being together?" she asked, if she was honest Felicity was dreading his answered but she had to know one way or another.

"I am as long as he doesn't hurt her" Oliver told her, he knew it was kind of hypocritical of him considering what he had put Laurel through over the years but he could and would end Tommy if he broke her heart.

"Wow I never thought I would see the day that Oliver Queen was the bigger man" Felicity grinned as she finally stepped out of Oliver's reach "I really do need to get back before Winters loses his job over me" she reminded him.

Felicity was genuinely starting to feel bad, Winters was a sweet guy who if she wasn't very much mistaken had a little bit of a crush on her, a crush she had used to her advantage to give him the slip. At the time she had known it was a necessary evil, she had to get the file she had found to Laurel if she was ever going to help Emily Nocenti. Felicity wasn't sure what her sister could do with the files but she did know that keeping the police away from information that may or may not have been obtained illegally was a very good idea. So at first cutting out on Winters didn't seem so bad but now that she was having an odd moment in a hallway with Oliver Queen she was starting to feel really guilty.

"Felicity" Oliver called out as she turned to leave but for once she didn't look back when he called for her. This conversation was starting to feel familiar, they were approaching ground that they had covered only once before, it hadn't ended well then and it wouldn't end well now so she just kept on walking.

"Good night Oliver" she called out and waved without so much as a backwards glance.

"Night Felicity" she heard him say just as the doors to the elevator closed behind her.

* * *

AN 2: I don't know how soon the next chapter will be up as I have some time off work for Christmas break but I also have family commitments during that time so I am going to hope soon but I won't make any promises.

Seek Peek: In the next chapter things get action packed as our hero's come face to face with an assassin out for their blood and we discover Felicity's reluctant talent.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

Thanks again Millie xXx


	12. Honour thy Father part 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: hey guys, here is the next chapter, I hope to get one at least more up before Christmas brake ends but I can't make any promises.

Chapter 11

Honour thy Father part 6

A cold wind whipped past Felicity as she left Laurels building, she found herself desperately wishing that she had bought her car or at least a thicker coat with her when she had made her escape but she hadn't wanted to tip Winters off to her get away plan, now she was paying the price for her stubbornness.

As she stood shivering on the curb a quick and easy way to reunite with her lost body guard occurred to her. She could just approach Laurel's guard detail and ask them to radio Winters, maybe if she was really lucky she might even be able to convince them not to tell Lucas or her Dad that she had slipped the leash.

Felicity was a few steps away from the cop car when she first noticed something was off, both officers were slumped over in their seats as if they were asleep. Over the years Felicity had had more than her fair share of protective details and never once had the officer involved dozed off, much as she had sometimes wished they would. Something was wrong, very very wrong Felicity could feel it in her bones.

Fear coursed through the young woman's veins as she ran the short distance to the car, her worries about her Fathers reaction to her sneaking out forgotten in the face of a much more pressing concern, the fate of the men in the car.

One glace through the cars side window both confirmed Felicity's fears and tore a scream of terror from her. The police officers inside the car were not sleeping they were dead; someone had slit their throats. Her horror passed with a speed that would swamp her with guilt later, when she realized the only reason anyone would take out Laurel's protection detail would be so that they could get a clear run at her.

Felicity turned to run back into her sisters building but she was stopped by a large pair of arms that wrapped themselves around her. She screamed again and tried to fight against them but they were too strong for her. Felicity felt her panic rising, threatening to choke her but then a familiar voice finally penetrated the haze of fear and registered in her mind, it was Digg.

"Felicity, it's me you are safe, I need you to calm down" he firmly ordered her and Felicity couldn't help but comply.

"Digg?" she gasped she had never been so happy to see Oliver's body guard. She had only spent a short time with him at the party last week but she felt that she knew enough to know she was safe with him. She was so glad he was there that normally she would be hugging him but there was no time for that now.

"Laurel, Oliver" she panted, pointing up to Laurel's apartment hoping that he would understand. Apparently he did because he took off towards the building pulling Felicity behind him.

"Stay close" Digg ordered as they entered and Felicity did her best but for a big guy he was fast.

When they reached the hallway that led to Laurels apartment John pause just long enough to pull his back up fire arm from the holster on his ankle and pass it to Felicity. He then pushed her into the corner furthest away from the apartments destroyed door.

"Anyone comes out of that door that shouldn't you shoot them" he told her, he didn't ask if she knew how to use a gun she was a cop's daughter after all. Just as he entered the apartment John's assumption was proven right when he heard Felicity flick the gun's safety off, at least now he only had to worry about Queen and the other Miss Lance.

Felicity heard shots ring out as soon as Digg stepped through what was left of Laurels door. She held on tight to the gun he had given her, she had no qualms about using it if she had to. After what felt like hours and what sounded like an all-out war inside her sister's apartment, a woman came barrelling out of it. She had a head full of white hair and she wore the angriest, most hate filled look that Felicity had ever seen.

Her anger and hatred seemed to twist into some kind of vindictive pleasure when she spotted Felicity crouched in her corner. With practiced ease Felicity took aim and squeezed off a couple of shots, she didn't particularly like guns but unlike hand to hand combat she excelled with them. She didn't usually miss, in fact she hadn't missed a target since she was 13 years old, so she was beyond shocked when she did this time.

The woman side stepped every shot as if they were moving in slow motion. All Felicity achieved was putting even more holes in the already battered walls. She could hear a commotion coming from the apartment, she knew help was coming but she also knew it would be too late.

Felicity saw the glint of a knife in the white haired woman's hand and she knew it was meant for her, she also knew she was not about to go down without a fight, no matter how out matched she was she was going to at least try to stand her ground. It was with that thought that the terrified blond got to her feet and readied herself for what was to come.

Felicity was so focused on her attacker that she failed to notice that the two of them were not alone in the hallway any more. A gun went off further down the hall making her jump and her assailant stumble. Felicity could see blood bloom up on the woman's arm but she didn't have it in her to feel at all sorry about it.

The woman changed her course at the very last second. She dove out of the nearby window instead of going for Felicity as she had clearly intended to do. Felicity looked up expecting to find Digg but she was surprised once again, standing there with his gun drawn was none other than Officer James Winters.

"Felicity, are you OK?" he asked lowering his weapon and rushing over to her. Gently he took Digg's gun from her and clicked the safety back on before pulling her into his arms.

That was how Oliver, Digg and Laurel found them just moments later. Both Felicity and Laurel were so badly shaken that neither of them noticed the dark looks that Oliver was shooting the young Officer but Diggle did. He knew that look well and while it wasn't his place to comment that didn't mean he wasn't filing it away for later use.

* * *

Thankfully by the time Quentin Lance showed up both of his daughters had calmed down and pulled themselves together a bit. The poor guy was frantic enough when he saw them as it was John didn't want to know how he would have handled the state they had been in when it first happened.

"Daddy" Laurel cried out when she saw him, both girl raced into his arms and clung to him as if they were children not women in their 20s.

"Laurel, Felicity" Quentin kissed each girls head in turn and hugged them as close to him as he could. "Oh, thank god" he sighed into their hair. He gave them each one last tight squeeze before releasing them and turning his attention to John Diggle. How could he ever thank the man that had saved his reasons for living, hallmark just doesn't make a card for that.

"Mr Diggle, thank you" he said shaking the man's hand "feel free to run as many stop lights as you like" he offered earning himself a chuckle from Queen's body guard.

"Your welcome but I was just doing my job" he said modestly "and it wasn't just me, Officer Winters is the one that saved Felicity in the end" he admitted pointing over to where the young man was giving his statement to another detective.

"Your job is to protect him" Lance pointed out indicating at Oliver to illustrate just who he meant. He said nothing about Winters, he honestly didn't know whether to thank the kid for saving his daughter or strangle him for losing her in the first place. Oliver Queen however was a completely different story.

"It seems to me whenever you are with one of my daughter's people end up dead Mr Queen" he spat at the boy before him "you stay away from them from now on" he ordered coolly "or next time you disappear it will be permanently; do you hear me?" he threatened whole heartedly meaning every word.

"Dad" both women protested, sounding shocked and angry.

"No it's OK" Oliver smiled at both sisters as he tried to reassure them but Diggle noticed his eyes lingered on Felicity for just a second longer than Laurel "I understand" he told lance.

"Well I don't" Felicity snapped "Oliver is my friend Dad, I think I'm passed the age where you get a say in who I do and don't spend time with" she seethed. Diggle was pretty sure she was about to blow and considering what she had been through over the last few hours he wouldn't blame her if she did.

"Felicity" Oliver cut in using the calmest, kindest tone Diggle had heard from him yet. "Your Dad wants you safe, I can relate to that, we will be fine" he told her smiling softly "and we will see each other soon" he promised shooting Lance a look so full off determination that it actually shocked John for a moment, he was fast realizing that Oliver Queen was not what he seemed.

Before Oliver had a chance to say or do anything else Felicity pulled away from her sisters comforting embrace and launched herself into Oliver's. She held on tight until he hugged her back and only then did she let him go. She took a deep breath and pulled herself up to her full height before stepping away from him completely.

"I'll see you soon" she beamed at him with a slightly forced but still beautiful smile.

"Very soon" Oliver swore as he turned and left, giving Diggle no choice but to follow him out.

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Oliver felt like his whole being was vibrating with fury, he had given Martin Sommers a chance to turn himself in, to face justice but instead the man had gone after two of the only people in the world that Oliver cared about, now Sommers was out of chances and Oliver was going to make him pay.

Keeping a lid on his anger was not easy, playing the role of a careless play boy wasn't second nature anymore and it was taking a constant effort to keep up the charade.

Oliver suspected that Diggle was starting to see through his mask and knew for a fact that Felicity did. She saw all of the changes he had gone through and she knew he was more different now than anyone else could possibly comprehend, obviously she didn't see that he was the Starling City vigilante but he knew it was just a matter of time before she made the connection. He told himself that was why he hadn't fought Lance over his demand to stay away from the girls.

It was all to protect his secret, it had nothing to do with the moment he and Felicity had shared in the hallway or how badly he had wanted to just tell her everything then and there. It most definitely didn't have anything to do with how much it had hurt to see her in Winters arms.

Felicity had interacted with both versions of him in the span of just a few days and as much as he wanted her in his life he knew he needed to be careful. He had excepted not too long ago that Felicity would know the whole truth about him one day but he wanted to be the one to tell her, he wanted to explain things in a way that didn't make him seem like a complete monster.

Oliver knew he needed to be the one to tell Felicity his secrets, he didn't want that brilliant mind of hers working it out first. He needed a plan and plans take time so until he knew how he was going to explain himself to his best friend he needed some distance but he also needed to not push her away any more than he already had, Quentin Lance every the over protective father had given Oliver the perfect out and for better or worse he had taken it.

For now, any plans for how and when he would tell Felicity the truth had to go on hold because right now there was nothing Oliver Queen needed more than to get his hands on Martin Sommers, his time of judgment had come.

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Thanks for reading, let me know what you think.

Thanks again Millie xXx


	13. Honour thy Father part 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN: Hello everyone, how are you? Here is another chapter for you, this was meant to be the last proper chapter of this episode with only an episode tag to come after but my episode tag kind of became a chapter in and of its self, so look out that coming soon. Until then I hope you enjoy this chapter, I actually found it quite hard to wright as I hate it when people fight, even fictional people. Anyway, I hope you like it, here we go.

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Chapter 12

Honour thy Father part 7

Quentin Lance loved his Daughters more than his own life but sometimes he was sure they existed purely to torment him. They were both mad at him for warning the Queen boy off and even after it had nearly gotten them killed they were stubbornly refusing to let the Sommers case go.

He prowled back and forth across Laurel's sitting room while the two girls sat on the sofa glaring at him. His girls had always presented a united front, they stood together against most challenges, normally this fact filled Quentin with pride but this time he just found it to be truly frustrating. Didn't they understand what they meant to him? Couldn't they see they were all he had left?

"Laurel, tomorrow you are going to go into that court and you are going to recuse yourself from this case or drop it all together" he told his oldest Daughter firmly. "I don't care witch you chose but you are off the case and you Felicity" he said turning his attention to the younger girl "this is your last CNRI case, you are done, am I clear?" he asked them both.

There was a moment of silence in the wake of the Detective's demand, Quentin held his breath and waited for the back lash that he was sure was coming, he didn't have long to wait.

"If you think I am just going to abandon Emily Nocenti then you don't know me that well" Laurel spat while Felicity just carried on glaring at him, she hadn't spoken a word to her Father since Oliver left.

"And if you think I am going to let the two of you risk your lives in a fight that's not even yours you don't know me very well young lady" Quentin seethed "I will lock you up in a cell if that's what it takes to keep you safe" he warned them

"Then I guess that what it's going to take" Laurel yelled unable to stop herself, she had been trying so hard to keep a hold of her temper but she had finally lost it.

Laurel was ready to ream her Father out but Felicity shocked them both by finally breaking her silence. When she spoke, her tone was both quiet and sad "Emily Nocenti's Dad was prepared to take on Martin Sommers and the triad, he was going to do it to keep her and Starling City safe and it cost him his life" she stated softly.

"Felicity" Quentin sighed.

"No Dad, don't Felicity me" the girl cried, her voice getting gradually louder as she went on. "Laurel is not about to leave Emily and Joanne face Sommers and the triad alone and I am going to do whatever I can to help them, we have to finish what Victor Nocenti started" she tried to reason with him but Quentin wasn't having any of it.

"Someone else is going to have to take Sommers down because it is not going to be you girls" he told them "It's my job to keep you girls safe and you may not like it but that's just too bad, so no more Martin Sommers and no more Oliver Queen, are we clear?" he asked them.

"No" Felicity countered in an icy tone "you may be our Father but we aren't children anymore, as much as I am sure you hate it, we are adult's now, so it is up to us which fights we pick and which friends we have, not you" she practically spat. Felicity could not remember the last time she was so angry at anyone. She could actually understand where her Dad was coming from so she didn't know why she was reacting as angrily as she was but she did know she needed to back down and get a hold on her temper before things got any worst.

Spinning on her heels the blond made to march out of the room, she didn't need to look behind her to know Laurel was right behind her. If Felicity, the calmest of the Sisters was this close to losing it with their Dad she dreaded to think what stage the hotter-headed Laurel was at.

The girls were almost out of sight when Quentin who had been momentarily silenced by his Daughter's coolness found his voice again. "Damn it girls" he yelled after them "I thought after what happened to Sara you two would just stop being so reckless". As soon as the words left his mouth the Detective knew they were the worst possible thing he could have said -particularly in the wake of Oliver's return and the confirmation of Sara's death- but there was no taking them back once they were out.

"It's not about being reckless" Laurel yelled turning back to him as she did "It's the exact opposite" she told her Father and he was surprised that she sounded more hurt than angry "We are trying to make the city safer" she explained.

"Just like you are" Felicity added frostily immediately backing up her Sister.

"Girls" Lance sighed some of the fight going out of him "the two of you are all I have" he told them. Crossing the distance between them he took one of their hands in each of his, he needed them to listen to him, really listen and understand what he was telling them. "The two of you are what I live for" he confessed effectively robbing the girls of their righteous anger.

"But Dad what you want for us isn't living" Laurel told him sadly "having Cops follow our every move, not being able to do our jobs" she tried to explain but her Dad quickly cut her off.

"CNRI is not Felicity's job" he pointed out anger re-entering his tone "and your job is not to go after the Triad or people like Martin Sommers".

"My job is to use the law to fight for what's right" Laurel countered fiercely.

"And if I can use my skills to help Laurel or someone else don't I have a responsibility to do what I can for them" Felicity added to the lawyer's argument.

"Isn't that what you have always told us?" Laurel asked softly.

"Well that's dirty using me against me" Quentin blustered "you can't to that". The girls could see the fight finally seep out of him as he gave into the words he himself had spoken so many times over the years. Slowly he sat down on the sofa they had vacated not long ago.

"Well maybe we picked up more from you than you think" Laurel said wiping away the last of her angry tears that had escaped and moving to sit beside her Father. Wordlessly Felicity sat on the other side of him, the girls each leaned into their Dad's side, it wasn't quite a hug but it was comforting none the less and it signalled that while they might not have reached an agreement they at least understood one another and of now the argument was over.

That was the moment Detective Lance's phone chose to ring. Both girls sat up giving him space, knowing he was going to answer, he always answered, without fail.

* * *

Leaving his Daughters was never easy for Quentin Lance but leaving them just after they had had -what was by their standards- a pretty big fight felt even worse. When he heard, the Vigilante was attacking Martin Sommers company the Detective was very tempted to drag his heels on his way to the docks and let the guy have some fun with Sommers before arresting him, but that wasn't what a good Cop would do and if nothing else he was a good Cop.

Cornering the Hooded Man on the docks Quentin truly believed that he was ready for whatever trick the guy would pull in an effort to escape, he hadn't expected him to pose a simple question.

"Are you really going to shoot the man that saved your Daughter's life Detective?" the synthesised voice demanded and Lance found himself pausing. Felicity did owe this man her life, she would never forgive him if he killed the man that had saved her and her friends.

"If you come quietly I won't have to" Lance yelled across to the Hood Guy.

"Sorry Detective that's not going to happen" Lance was sure the guy actually smirked right before he shot the gun right out of the seasoned officers hand, using a miniature arrow of all things.

Quentin knew he should have been bothered that the Vigilante had gotten away and that he was the Cop that let it happen, but considering the guy had left him both a severely beaten Martin Sommers and all the evidence he needed to put the scum bag away for life he wasn't going to complain.

Martin Sommers had confessed to having Victor Nocenti killed, Laurel's case was closed and both of his girls were safe again. What more could he have hoped for when he left them under armed guard earlier that night.

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Thanks for reading, let me know what you think as I love hearing from you.

Thanks again

Millie xXx


	14. Honour thy Father episode tag

The other Lance girl

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, I'm not sure if I can even lay full claim to this story idea because there are an awful lot of Oliver and Felicity knew each other before the island stories out there, this is just my take on it.

Summary: Felicity Lance had not always been a Lance; her life began as a Smoak. She was adopted when she was nine and had lost everything. She went from being an only child to having two amazing Sisters. Laurel was always perfect while Sara was a free spirited wild child and Felicity; well Felicity was just the other Lance girl. When tragedy rocks not just the Lance's but Starling City as well Felicity has no choice but to step up and become the woman she never thought she could be.

AN1: Hi guys, I just want to say thank you for all of the wonderful feedback I have gotten it is always nice to know when people enjoy what I have written, I also appreciate when someone takes the time to give constructive criticism, it is just as nice to know someone wants to help me become a better writer. So, moving on here is the episode tag for Honour thy Father, as I mentioned before it is actually longer that some of the chapters, I want to put the blame on Oliver and Felicity, really I do but if I am honest I know it is as much down to me as it is them. This was actually one of my favourite chapters to write, I hope you enjoy it too. Happy reading.

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Chapter 13

Honour thy Father episode tag

Felicity Lance was not stupid, far from it in fact, nor was she blind, she had always known her best friend was riddled with flaws but she had never realized that terrible acting was one of them, until she watched him purposely ruin his father's memorial by pretend to be drunk of his ass. The dedication of Queen consolidated applied sciences building was meant to be about Robert Queen and remembering his legacy but it (like most things lately) had become all about Oliver.

He had sent Felicity a text the night before, probably with help from Thea or Tommy, asking her not to come to the dedication. She had no idea why he would ask that of her but being the good friend she was Felicity had promised, then promptly found a way around her promise. Felicity had thought watching the live coverage of the ceremony was a good idea and watching it at the mansion along with Raisa had seemed even better but as she realised exactly what Oliver was doing she found herself desperately wishing she had stayed home.

Watching Oliver make a fool of himself was never easy for Felicity but having Raisa sat with her made it so much worse. The older woman was both shocked and disappointed, she loved Oliver like a son and it clearly hurt her to see him acting in such an awful way. The young billionaire was clearly in trouble with his pseudo mother, Felicity's understanding of Russian was very basic but she knew swearing when she heard it.

Raisa gave herself a moment to recover her calm before she got up to put together one of her patented hangover/sobering up trays for Oliver. Once it was ready she left Felicity in charge of making sure he got it, making her promise not to leave until he was home safe, then she returned to her many responsibility's.

Felicity didn't have to wait long before Oliver came stubbing through the door, she had to give him some credit for trying to keep up his act.

"Felicity, your here" he cheered raucously, throwing his arms up in greeting when he saw her.

"Oliver, your faking" Felicity cheered back right back at him.

The wide smile he had plastered across his face fell away as soon as she called him out on his performance and Felicity found herself once again facing the new surlier Oliver Queen.

"you didn't buy it for a second, did you?" he asked even though they both knew the answer already.

"not even one" Felicity confirmed in the most disappointed tone he had heard all week and considering the week he had had that was saying something.

"Raisa bought it though, she made you this" Felicity said pushing the food and drink towards him "do you want to talk about what happened to make you pull a stunt like that?" she asked softly.

Felicity's sad tone and somewhat subdued mannerisms made it clear to Oliver that she was expecting him to shut her out, like he had done to so many others since his return home and a huge part of him wanted to do just that. He wanted to tell her no he didn't want to talk, that it wasn't any of her business why he did what he did but Thea's words of warning from just a few days ago, pulled him up short.

He couldn't risk losing Felicity even if they would both be safer with her out of his life he couldn't give her up, so instead of running away from his friends questioning like he really wanted to Oliver did the exact opposite, he sat himself in a chair across from Felicity and did the very last thing he wanted to do, he told her the truth.

"Do you remember how we talked about me not being Ollie anymore?" he started with a question.

"You mean the conversation we had just before my second near death experience in as many weeks? Yeah I think I remember that" Felicity teased him gently.

"Well the thing is I know who I'm not but I'm still not too clear on who I am yet" Oliver explained. "What I do know is that I don't want to be my Father and my Mother just couldn't except that, so I followed Laurel's advice and showed her that I couldn't be who she wanted me to be" he concluded.

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that Laurel, the most upstanding person that either of us know told you to act like a buffoon at your Fathers memorial?" Felicity asked incredulously.

"No" Oliver almost laughed "but she did point out that when words don't work action is a good next move. I just need my Mom to give me time to decide what I want to do with this second chance I have been given. So, I pulled a stupid stunt to force her hand, I'm not proud of what I did but it is done now and it worked, which is the important thing" he said finally done with his explanation.

"The fact that it worked might be the important thing to you Oliver but I guarantee you that it won't matter to all the people you hurt and humiliated today" Felicity told him sadly. She sat staring at her clasped hands for a moment contemplating whether or not to add that she was one of those people.

It turned out that she didn't have to, Oliver seemed to know already, sometime she forgot just how well he could read her. One of his much larger hands slid across the table to gently rest on top of her interlinked fingers.

"I know it was stupid Felicity" he admitted "that's why I asked you not to watch" he sighed.

"Actually, you asked me not to go, you never said anything about watching on TV" Felicity could help but point out, Oliver shook his head and gave a slightly broken chuckle while making a mental note to be more specific when making Felicity promise anything in future.

"So, you bought yourself some time, what the plan now" the blond asked.

"Now I figure out who I want to be" Oliver smiled softly.

"You got any ideas yet?" Felicity asked brightly trying to bring the conversation back onto light friendly ground but Oliver wasn't having that, she had encouraged him to talk honestly to her so that was what he was going to do.

"All I know right now is that I have to live the kind of life my Father would want me to and if I'm going to do that I have to hold onto the people that mean the most to me" he told her solemnly.

Felicity had no way of knowing that the life his Father wanted for him came with a mission of redemption but Oliver needed her to understand that she mattered to him. No matter what path their lives took in the future nothing could or would change that.

Slowly he shifted his grip on her hand until their fingers were entwined, just like they had been the night his alter ego saved her from her own bravery.

"Oliver?" Felicity gasped, he could see questions swimming in her eyes and hear concern in her voice he could only hope that when she finally gave voice to her question it would not be the one he dreaded the most.

"What do you need from me?" she whispered, glancing from their joined hands to his face.

"Don't leave me, even when you know I'm holding back and not telling you everything, still just trust me and be there, just be my Felicity" he almost begged. Oliver knew it was selfish of him to ask but whoever he became in the future he didn't think he would ever be selfless enough to let go of the girl who even dressed as a goth had bought nothing but light into his life.

"Oliver" she sighed pulling her hand free from his. "You know I want to be there for you but I can't stay where I feel unwanted " she warned him "you can't go around pushing me away and hurting me and the people I love and just expect me to still be your go to girl, that's not how friendship works" she told him firmly.

"I know" Oliver sighed getting up from his seat and beginning to pace back and forth. He had really thought this conversation was going to go differently.

"Do you really Oliver?" Felicity ask him crossly, sometime she was sure that the man in front of her really believed that her life began and ended with him and if that was the case it was time for him to learn just how wrong he was.

"Of course I do" Oliver stopped pacing long enough to snap at her.

"Are you sure about that?" she questioned him again "because this Felicity will always be there to fix everything mentality you have predates the island Oliver" she was yelling now "Oops, I broke Laurels heart again and now her Dad wants to kill me, oh well Felicity can fix that. Oh no, I forgot to go to Thea's dance recital because I was hung over, not to worry Felicity filmed it and lied to her for me. Oh, man I got kicked out of yet another college how am I going to tell my parents, I know Felicity will do it while I hide out in Vegas with Tommy" with every example she gave Felicity felt herself getting angrier and angrier at her friend.

Oliver wanted to interrupt her and tell her she was wrong but that would be a lie, the old Oliver really had used Felicity like that, she had been so good at fixing his life for him that at first he had just let her do it but then he had come to expect it and he had never once thanked her for it. Honestly he was surprised it had taken this long for her to call him on it.

"I know that you have always been a better friend to me than I ever was to you Felicity and I want that to change" he told her truthfully, taking the wind out of her sails.

"Oh" Felicity faulted in her rant, there wasn't much else she could say to that. "OK then" she said grabbing her bag and heading for the door. "Good talk" she said giving Oliver's arm an awkward pat as she passed by him. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly so embarrassed but she knew now was a good time for her to disappear.

She had the back door open and was almost free when Oliver finally spoke up again "Please don't give up on me" he called pleadingly and Felicity froze. She had known Oliver since she was a child and she didn't think she had ever heard him sound so open or vulnerable, not even when he was swearing he was in love.

She had her back to him and she was half out the door, she could run away and pretend she hadn't heard him but Oliver had been nothing but honest with her ever since he dropped the drunk act so she would give him the same in return.

Turning she gave him a small but genuine smile I couldn't give up on you if I wanted to Oliver, you know that, you always have" she reminded him.

"I don't deserve you" he whispered sadly and Felicity had to wonder who's words it was that he was parroting.

"I know but you're stuck with me anyway" she shot back brightly before rushing out the door. Normally she would end a visit with a hug or a kiss to the cheek but after all the high emotions that had been thrown around that morning she just wanted to make a clean get away.

Felicity had only gone a few steps when her phone began to ring, seeing Officer Winters name flash across the screen was a welcome distraction as was his invite to dinner. The plans were made before she had even reached her mini.

She wouldn't know for months that Oliver had followed her out and heard every word she said to the young officer and Oliver swore to himself that she would never know how deeply it hurt him to listen as she made plans for dinner with the other man.

He had promised them both that he would be a better friend to her and he was going to do everything in his power not to break this one. If that mean keeping quiet and being happy for her then he would do it, just like she had for him.

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AN2: Hey everyone, hope you don't hate me too much for the end of this chapter, I promise there is a reason for everything I do. I actually have a quick question for you, hope you don't mind. I wanted this chapter to give you some hints about Oliver and Felicity's past and then leave you to ponder on them, seen as I know their back story it's kind of hard for me to tell if it worked or not, so if any could tell me I would love that. I would also really like to hear any theory's you might have about anything I eluded to in not just this chapter but others too.

Thanks for taking the time to read especially those of you that made it through both author's notes, I would love to know what you think.

Thanks again

Millie xXx


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